Misty's Dilemma
by PikaSass
Summary: A tragedy hits the Waterflowers and Misty is forced to move back to Cerulean - permanantly. Just as she's discovering things about life she didn't think were possible. Can someone she truly cared about come back to her and do something that could only be
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon! That's all I hafta say, right? Good!  
  
A/N: Okay, I'd just like to warn everyone that this story has sixteen chapters that I won't post all at once, cos otherwise the readers would be bogged down. So here it is, chapter 1...enjoy! :)  
  
A giddy feeling shot through Misty as she watched Ash win another battle. What was this? It's not right! He owes her a bike.   
A bike. That's why I'm here? one side of her mind asked.  
You know damn well why you're here, the other side argued.   
"Toge, Togebree!" Her Togepi cheered in her arms and she sadly smiled. If only he knew...if only he could figure it out...then she wouldn't have to tell him...  
"Hey Misty, pretty impressive, huh?" Ash asked as he walked up.  
Misty's quick wit once again took her over. "The only impressive thing about that was how fast you moved." She inwardly cringed. Yeah, you're really gonna win him over with remarks like that...  
But Ash took the remark coolly. "Think what you like, but I'll show you. When I'm a Pokemon Master, you'll have a shrine of me in your room back in Cerulean" he replied.  
Misty glared. If she was back home, she would've had a shrine of him up long ago. "If only you knew..." she muttered.  
"Huh?" Ash questioned.  
Misty quickly shook her head of strawberry hair. "Nothing." Then she decided to ask him something daring as they walked back to the temporary house they had rented for the Orange League. "Ash...do you believe in love at first sight?"  
"Oh no, here we ago, another romantic swooning takes place" Ash sighed.  
Misty whacked him on his already ruffled hair. "I'm serious! Tell me, do you believe in it, or not?"  
Ash shrugged his reply. "Why would you ask me something you should be asking one of your giggly friends in Cerulean?"  
"Fat lot of help you are" Misty scowled and Ash grinned a boyish grin that only two people in the world warmed up to. His mother and Misty.The two people who loved him the most. And he only knew one half of it.  
"Can we eat? Battling's hard work" Ash explained, and Misty groaned. At least I hadn't been that obvious, she thought positvily.  
"You can, I'm not hungry" she shrugged.  
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Not hungry? Is that humanly possible?" he wondered aloud.  
"You bet it is, you've just never experienced it" Misty said as she turned the doorknob to the house.  
"Well, Pikachu and I are gonna get something. Don't forget to feed Togepi!" Ash reminded her.  
"As if I would forget to feed Togepi!" Misty yelled, offended. Ash quickly left, not wanting to face the wrath of Misty he had experienced one time too many.  
As he shut the door, thinking of his dinner, Misty sighed. "Is that all he ever thinks about? Food?" she asked herself, wishing that Brock was here. He had been good to talk to, until he left for stupid Velenzia Island. He left thinking everything would be okay between those two.  
How wrong was he.  
"Okay Togepi, what is it tonight? Bread bits? Sausage snipplets?" Misty asked her beloved Togepi.  
"Toge" Togepi said simply, pointing to the bread.  
"Okay" Misty agreed and began breaking a piece of bread into small sections that Togepi could get its mouth around. As she fed the almost crumbs to Togepi, her mind wandered. Why was she feeling like this at the age of ten? Was that humanly possible?   
Togepi sensed Misty's distraction and broke the silence. "Toge Toge, Togebree!" it said happily and Misty shook her head.   
"Sorry Togepi, I'm a bit spaced out" she explained, feeding it another piece of bread.  
As Togepi started chewing quietly, the phone interrupted all thoughts, feelings and occurances that had happened in the last five minutes.  
"I wonder who that is?" Misty asked herself as she walked to the phone. "Ash probably lost the way to the restaurant" she realised, grabbing the Orange League booklet that would have directions to the restaurant.   
"Okay Ash, take a left at the main road" she answered.  
"Misty? Is that you?" a voice replied.  
Her ears instantly registered the voice and she put the phone on video phone. "Daisy? Why are you calling?" she asked with a tinge of worry in her voice. Her sister wouldn't be calling unless something was wrong...  
"You have to come here straight away. It's Mom" Daisy started.  
Misty stared at her sister on the small screen. "Mom? What's going on?"  
Daisy started crying, a sound so rare from any of Misty's family. "Come on, Daisy, you have to tell me!" Misty said desperatly. Daisy collected herself and Misty listened carefully.  
"Mom's been diagnosed....with, um...terminal cancer." Daisy burst into heartfelt tears again, and Misty tried to absorb the news.  
"No. Daisy, no..."  
"She has two months. You have to come here straight away!" Daisy yelled at her little sister.  
"Are you sure about this?" Misty choked on the words. Terminal. The word throbbed in her mind like a sore finger.  
Daisy nodded. "We went to every doctor in town...they can't find a cure, they can only offer chemotherapy."  
Misty, too, burst into tears. "Mom can't...she can't..." the words couldn't come, but the two sisters understood. "Where's Lily and Violet?"  
"They're with her at the hospital" Daisy explained.  
"Well, where are you?" Misty asked through her tears.  
"I'm back home, getting a few of her things...when can you come here? The Gym will pay for you to fly out" Daisy offered.  
Misty considered. "I don't know..." Come on, your mother is dying! her mind screamed at her and she cringed in guilt. "...when the next flight is" she added.  
Daisy sniffled and wiped away a tear. "Find out and get here. Mom's been asking for you." This didn't help Misty's water cascade, and the tears fell like a weak water gun attack.  
"I'll be out there as soon as I can" she promised.  
"Thanks, Mist. See you soon..."  
"Daisy, wait" Misty said, and Daisy refrained from hanging up. "Tell Mom I love her. Don't tell her I'm coming out yet. Let me surprise her." Daisy nodded, and the two sister's hung up.  
Misty's whole body shook as she sat herself down on a chair and cried, ignoring Togepi and everything else around her. The salty tears hit her bare legs and blotched her creamy skin.  
Unaware of the events going on, Ash had been eating himself half a restaurant with Pikachu's help.  
"The food here is great!" he exclaimed, mouth full of roast chicken.  
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed.  
"Excuse me, Mr. Ketchum." A waiter had tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around.   
"Yeah?"  
"I believe you have a phonecall" the waiter announced. Ash gave him a puzzled frown and walked over to the phone, which wasn't a video one.  
"Hello?" he answered.  
"Toge Toge, Togebree!" was the reply he got.   
He jumped back in surprise and listened. "Togepi? How did you call?"   
"Toge!" it yelled, frustrated. It was smarter than anyone else imagined, especially considering its pyschic abilities. It had pyschically told the waiter to get Ash, but now it had run out of energy doing that, and could only say its name.  
"Okay, what's up?" Ash asked. Then he heard it. Someone was sobbing. And it could only be...  
"Where's Misty?" Ash inquired. Togepi rattled off some Togepi language that Ash couldn't pick up, so he interrupted. "Just stay there, I'll be there in a sec." He quickly hung up, told Pikachu they were leaving and ran out.  
"Pika Pi! Pikachu?" it asked as they ran towards the house.  
"I think something's up with Misty. Togepi was on the phone" Ash explained. Pikachu frowned as it ran beside him, but it shrugged it off. Ash ran faster. Misty was one of his best friends...maybe he was starting to think of her as more than just that...but either way, he couldn't just leave her crying all by herself.  
He burst through the front door a minute later, but Misty didn't even hear him. She was still sobbing, her head wrapped in her arms and her hair loose and ruffled.   
"Misty! What's wrong, what happened?" Ash asked, as he ran up to her. He was shocked at the sight. Tomboy Misty never cried unless something really bad had happened.  
Misty lifted her tear-stained face and sniffled. "Ash...I have...Mom...gotta go..." She was half-delirous with fear and pain and sadness, and couldn't make sense of what she was trying to say.  
"Okay Misty, calm down, what's wrong?" Ash asked calmly.  
"Mom's sick" Misty said suddenly. "Very sick. She....I can't...mom is gonna die, Ash! She's gonna die in two months!" she yelled, grabbing a hold of Ash's shirt and shaking him as she spoke.  
Ash took away her hands and looked at her gently as a fresh batch of tears took control of her. "I'm so sorry, Misty..."  
"Don't be. It's not your fault" Misty whispered.   
Ash went quiet. "What does this mean?" he asked cautiously.  
Misty sighed. "I have to go back. To Cerulean. Tomorrow."  
Ash's eyes went wide and Pikachu nearly fell over in shock. "Tomorrow? Are there flights tomorrow?" he asked hopefully. Maybe there wouldn't be. Maybe she could stay, so he could have someone to celebrate his victory with...  
Misty nodded. "Yeah. At twelve. I just have to pack..."  
"Don't worry about that now. I think you should just get yourself to bed" Ash suggested, and Pikachu nodded its agreement.  
"Are you crazy?! Go to bed?!" Misty shouted at him.  
"Yes, you can't sit out here crying all night, it's not good for you" Ash said, and Misty reluctantly gave in. It was true.   
"Alright. I'll go to bed" she said shakily. Ash took her hand -- Misty didn't even notice -- and helped her to her bed. As she lay down, her eyes were half closed and Ash wrapped the blankets around her. "Ash..." she weakly called out before he left. He turned around at the door. "Thankyou" she whispered.  
Ash smiled. "Goodnight, Misty" he farewelled, and closed the door behind him, as they both thought of tomorrow.  
  
A/N: Woo-hoo, chapter 1 complete! Not what you thought it would be? Too predictable? Tell me, I love reviews and I haven't had any for AGES! Haha, thankyou! :) 


	2. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, know anyone from Pokemon, or live anywhere near Pokemon HQ! :)  
  
A/N: Okay everyone, you've yelled at me enough, here's chapter two of sixteen...yeah, there are sixteen chapters, and I'll post the rest up as soon as I can, but for now my fingers are freezing, so I'm not gonna type anymore!   
  
Her bags were gone. She was clutching her boarding pass in a sweat-covered hand and trembling. How could she leave? Why did her mom have to get cancer? She didn't deserve it...  
"Flight 209 to Cerulean City, now boarding at Gate 13" a voice over the loudspeaker announced, and Misty felt a lump in her throat that had become familiar since last night.  
"I guess this is it" she smiled weakly as Togepi too, nearly started crying.  
"I guess so" Ash replied.  
"Pika Pika, Pi Pi Pi" Pikachu said, directing the comment to Misty and Togepi. They all interpreted it as some sort of goodbye.  
"Bye Pikachu" Misty whispered, hugging the cute electric mouse. She set it on Ash's head, its usual resting place, and turned to Ash. "Good luck in the League."  
Ash nodded. "Good luck with your mom." Misty looked at the ground, and when she looked up, Ash gently hugged her. She hugged him back, liking the feeling of his arms around her, knowing it was the first and last time she would feel it.  
"Bye Ash. I hope you can manage by yourself" she half-teased.  
Ash grinned. "You watch me" he replied, but only half-heartdly. How was he gonna get along by himself? He had never done it. And when he had, he had wound up destroying her bike and nearly killing Pikachu.  
Willing herself not to cry again, Misty picked up Togepi and turned away, wanting to face the boy she loved, but knowing that now she couldn't. It was like a brick wall was going to seperate them now. Only it was bigger than that. It was an ocean, dozens of islands, and miles of land. She handed in her boarding pass and entered the tunnel that connected with the plane. Just before she stepped on the plane, she let a small tear discreetly fall down her cheek.   
"Welcome aboard flight 209" a friendly looking air hostess greeted her. Misty smiled, and sat down at the window seat Daisy had kindly requested. After buckling her seatbelt, she vacantly stared out the window, thinking of her mom, and what would happen when she arrived home.  
The plane started moving, and so did Misty's mind. You never told him, she realised. As the plane took off into the cloudless sky, Misty sighed. "I love you, Ash" she whispered, looking at the building she had just left. Another tear escaped, and for the rest of the four hour flight, her thoughts were majorly on her mother.  
Ash stared out the window as the plane left, and sighed. "Well Pikachu, it's just you and me, buddy" he smiled.  
Pikachu smiled back, but they both felt Misty's absence as soon as they walked through the door to the League house. No smart cracks, no Togepi giggling, nothing. It was almost dead.  
Ash shook his head. He couldn't concentrate on her now, he had a match to get ready for. "Come on, Pikachu, our match is in an hour" he announced. Pikachu nodded and they started preparing themselves.  
An hour later, he stood proudly in a trainers box, pokeball in hand, grin on face...pain in heart. You let her go like a leaf in the wind, he thought. Pikachu noticed the other trainer entering, by the name of Steve, and tugged at Ash's well worn jeans.  
"Pika Pi! Pikachu!" it cried desperatly. Ash couldn't lose it now. Not before his match. Steve got in his trainers box and the two trainers eyed each other. There's no way I can lose this, Ash thought bitterly.   
"Squirtle, go!" he cried, throwing his pokeball.  
"Go Mankey!" Steve yelled, summoning a small but tough looking Mankey. Ash stared. A Mankey. "No sweat" he muttered. "Squirtle, water gun!"  
"Mankey, double team!"  
One Mankey turned to two. Two turned to four. Four to eight...Ash lost count after that. Squirtle's powerful attack went through the first Mankey, then the second...  
"Squirtle, um...uh..."   
"Pika Pi!" Pikachu yelled at its best friend. Ash looked down at the little yellow mouse and shook his head.   
"Keep it up Squirtle!" Eventually all those Mankey would vanish, but one. Squirtle finally found the real one and weakened it.  
"Mankey, fury swipes!"  
"Squirtle, withdraw!"  
The fight was long, with neither trainer giving in or stumbling. One last kick, one last water gun and...  
"Squirtle is the winner!"  
Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "Squirtle, you're the greatest!" he exclaimed in gratitude. His pokemon were like Gods to him. They gave him everything he wanted, and everything he needed. Love, protection, badges, battles, fun... "Return, Squirtle." The little turtle pokemon, having no choice, went back in its pokeball at its master's summoning, and Ash jumped down from the trainers box, admist cheers and news reporters. "Pikachu, do you think something's missing?" he asked.  
Pikachu nodded. "Pika Pika" it answered in agreement. Ash sighed, ignored everything around him and slowly walked back to the house. "Pika Pi..." Pikachu had to ask Ash something.  
"Yeah?" Ash replied.  
"Pika, Pikachu Pika Pika?" Pikachu asked nervously. Ash interpreted it perfectly. Pikachu had just asked him if he loved Misty.  
"Only as a friend" he answered simply. It was the truth. He missed her like anything...but he wasn't in love with her. How do you fall in love with someone who hits you with mallets and can't help but insult you? How? She was pretty, and sometimes she could be funny, and they disagreed about every subject under the sun...but in the end, he really liked her. As a close friend. It was weird not having her walk beside him, cooing to Togepi, offending him with her latest remarks about how poor a trainer he really was...  
"Pika Pika?" Pikachu asked sympathetically. In other words, "are you okay?"  
Ash smiled at his best friend. "I'm fine, Pikachu." And with those words, they both walked into the house, together, but lonely.  
  
A/N: Well well well! What did you think? I'd like to remind everyone that I wrote this before the Orange Island stuff started, so I had no idea how the Orange League worked, or who won it or anything. So yeah, bear with me on this! All comments appreciated! 


	3. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: My hands are too cold to write much, so I'll just say I don't own Pokemon, cos I don't!  
  
A/N: Chapter four, woo-hoo! I tried to paragraph it this time, but my computer is so cheap and old that it does a horrible job of it. Bear with me, it'll get better!   
  
"Misty! Over here!"  
  
Jetlagged and red-eyed, Misty immediatly noticed the blonde bombshell that was her sister. She ran over and they shared an emotional hug.   
  
"Thankyou for coming. Mom wants to see you" Daisy whispered as they pulled apart.   
  
Misty's sapphiere eyes filled with tears. "How is she?"  
  
Daisy shook her head. "Going through chemo. There's no point, nothing can...I mean..." It was a sensitive subject that neither sister wanted to discuss, or face.  
  
"Um, I better get my bags" Misty realised.  
  
"Of course" Daisy smiled, being nicer to Misty then she ever had in previous years. They walked over to the baggage claim as Daisy asked a million questions. "How's Ash?" she asked as she hauled Misty's second and final bag onto a trolley.  
  
Misty went quiet. "He's having a match today. He should win..."  
  
Daisy nodded. "He's a pretty awesome trainer."  
  
"I know that!" Misty snapped, and Daisy reeled. Misty mentally yelled at herself, then smiled. "I'm sorry. This is all getting to me. Come on, let's just go." Daisy agreed, hailed a taxi, and directed the driver to Cerulean General Hospital.  
  
"Misty, I have to warn you, mom doesn't look like she usually does" Daisy said seriously as they walked through the sterile corridor of the cancer wing. Misty said nothing, only looked at the ground. As they walked past, she caught glimpses of cancer paitents. No hair, no visitors...no hope. "Okay, here we are" Daisy stopped before a closed door as Misty drew in a big breath.   
  
"Let's go" she said confidentally. They both walked in, and Misty tried to keep in her gasp. Her mother, once recognisble with red, lucious locks of hair, was now bald, and living off tubes. Needles protuded her once youthful skin, making it older beyond its years. "Mom" she croaked, trying to hold back tears. She set Togepi on a chair and knelt beside her mother. "Mom...it's me, it's Misty..."  
  
Her mother, Rose, moved her head. "Misty?" Her youngest daughter nodded, and started crying tears of anguish. "Don't do that, don't do that" she urged, wiping Misty's tears. Misty looked up and Rose smiled. "Thankyou for coming. My prayers were answered."   
  
"I've missed you so much" Misty whimpered, meaning it.  
  
Rose nodded. "I've missed you more. You know why you were called Misty...we ran out of flower names when you came along..." She laughed at the memory, and Misty clutched her mother's hand.  
  
"Mom, I love you. I'm not going anywhere" she promised.  
  
"Don't be silly, you have your childhood to live for. How about your pokemon? And that nice boy...Alex..."  
  
"Ash" Misty corrected, and smiled. Rose had a good memory.  
  
"He's a nice boy...and I'll never see you marry him..." Rose trailed off, and Daisy started crying quietly by the doorway.  
  
"Mom, I was never gonna marry Ash" Misty shook her head.  
  
"Oh but you are" Rose nodded. "You two are a match made in heaven." She took a firmer hold of Misty's hand and looked her straight in the eye. "Don't hold back. If you let go of him, you'll regret it for the rest of your life" she advised.  
  
Misty gave her a sad smile. "Mom..."  
  
"Misty, I'm telling you this as your mother. Not as a giggly girlie friend. I know a pair of lovebirds when I see them" Rose said.  
  
"I'm here to be with you, mom, not Ash. You" Misty said firmly.  
  
Rose smiled. "Thankyou. You were always so considerate, so friendly, so...so..." It was Rose's turn to cry now, and Misty wrapped her arms around her mother as her own tears hit the bed.  
  
"Don't worry, mom. Don't worry" she sobbed, clutching her mother and whimpering like a lost puppy -- which is excatly how she felt. They pulled apart and Rose wiped away her tears. It was at this point a nurse walked in.  
  
"Good afternoon, Rose" she smiled. Misty noticed the nametag -- Susan.   
  
Rose sighed. "Another chemo treatment?"  
  
"You got it" Susan said warily. Misty turned to her mother and sniffled.  
  
"Misty, you go visit your sisters. I'll be in a cranky mood all day after this" Rose sadly smiled.  
  
Misty nodded and walked towards Daisy. "Bye Mom...I love you..." she whispered, picking up Togepi.  
  
"Remember, not yet" Rose reminded her. As soon as Misty walked out the door, she collapsed in another chair and cried.  
  
"Misty...come on, calm down..." Daisy begged.  
  
"Calm down?" Misty asked. "You expect me to calm down while my mother lies in that stiff bed, dying?!" she hissed so no one would hear.  
  
Daisy sighed, also on the brink of tears. "I know, I know. But she's still got two months. We've got to cherish those..." She trailed off, not wanting to tell her younger sister the truth. Rose had less then two months. She had asked her three eldest daughters not to tell Misty, as she knew it would be hard enough to absorb the first shock.  
  
Misty stood up. "Should we go and see Lily and Violet?"  
  
Daisy smiled. "I guess we should." They walked out of the hospital, arms around each other, like a barrier of support. But they both felt as if they'd had their whole lives sucked out of them.  
  
"Daisy...what's going to happen when mom...uh..." Misty hated saying it. Died. The word was ugly.  
  
Daisy's eyes went wide, and Misty instantly picked up the look of fear in them. "We'll talk about it when we get home" Daisy promised, hailing a cab. Usually persistant Misty just raised an eyebrow and climbed in the cab after her sister. "Cerulean Gym, please" Daisy politly instructed, and the cab driver pulled away into the usual crowded streets of Cerulean City. Pulling Misty into a shock she never thought she would have to face.  
  
A/N: Okay, that was my crap paragraphing, but someone pointed out to me that it wasn't paragraphed at all, so I did my best on this crap computer. Part four will be here soon, promise! :) 


	4. Default Chapter

DICALAIMER: *sigh* How many times must I tell you? I don't own Pokemon, but I love it! :)  
  
A/N: Woo-hoo, chapter four is here! I promise chapter five will be up soon, I've written the whole story, it's just gonna take me a while to put it all up! And thanks to BellaWaterFlower for suggesting I paragraph it...it really does make a difference!   
  
Ash slumped back on the sofa. How boring this was. An hour before his match, the match that would decide whether he would make it to the semi-finals, and he was bored.  
  
"Pika Pi, Pikachu" Pikachu walked in, telling Ash that they should get ready.  
  
"Pikachu, I don't think we could be more ready" Ash shrugged.   
Pikachu got angry. Ash had done nothing but mope since Misty left. What a pack of lies he had bestowed upon his best friend -- saying that he didn't love Misty. If this wasn't love, the little mouse Pokemon thought that real love would boggle one's mind.  
  
"Pika Pi! Pika, Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled, words coming out like spewing lava from an agitated volcano.  
  
Ash picked up the vibe with no trouble. "I don't love her. I'm just bored. There's nothing to do, you know that." But the thing was, Pikachu didn't know it. It certainly wasn't bored, just frustrated at Ash's attitude.  
  
"Pika Pika" Pikachu said sourly, disagreeing but leaving the matter at rest. There was no point arguing, it certainly wasn't going to get them anywhere.   
  
They ate a hearty lunch, treated Ash's pokemon, then walked to the stadium. While other trainers were finding battling was more like a chore, Ash couldn't get enough of it. It was such a thrill, standing there, before thousands of people...  
  
They were stopped by the usual guard, asked for their ID, then walked backstage. A couple of other trainers were there, either celebrating or mourning. Yet something in Ash's stomach was indicating nervousness.   
He shrugged it off and smiled at the roof.  
That was when it started raining, and Ash's smile disappeared as quickly as the rain had started.  
  
"Great, it's raining" he muttered sarcastically. Pikachu sighed. It wasn't a good omen in any aspect. "We don't have time to worry about omens now, we gotta focus on winning" Ash declared. Pikachu nodded and got ready to once again stride out.   
  
I wonder how Misty's mom is doing, Ash thought suddenly, and his pace slowed.   
  
"Pika Pi?" Pikachu asked, sensing his distraction.  
  
Ash shook his head. "Sorry buddy. Let's go win" he grinned, and Pikachu relfected the smile.  
  
"Today's fifth battle, Ash Ketchum versus Mika Viner" the loudspeakers announced.   
  
Ash had already studied Mika's style. Sneak attacks were his main strategy, not element matching.  
  
"Okay, let's get started!" Ash yelled as soon as he stepped into his trainers box. "Pikachu, you're on!"  
  
"Pika!" Pikachu jumped down from the box, ready to win.  
  
Mika laughed. "Alakazam, go!" The pokeball was thrown, a flash of light, and a super-strong Alakazam appeared.  
  
Ash froze. Alakazam were nothing to mess with, especially with an IQ of 3,600. No wonder he used sneak attacks.  
  
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash commanded. Pikachu got its power sacks fired up, when...  
  
"Alakazam, reflect!" Mika ordered. The pyschic pokemon obeyed and the thunderbolt was bounded off an invisible barrier and headed for Pikachu.  
  
"Chaa!" Pikachu cried in surprise.   
  
Bullets of nerves hit Ash. "Pikachu, uh, agility!"   
Pikachu ran as fast as it could, but the re-directed thunderbolt still hit and had a devestating effect.   
"Pikachu! Are you okay?" Ash asked worridly. Pikachu slowly stood back up. It was a fighter, and anyone who knew Pikachu knew that. "Alright! Try your quick attack!"  
  
Pikachu ran in the direction of Alakazam, gaining highest speeds, and then...  
  
"Alakazam, teleport!" Mika yelled. Alakazam shimmered, then disappeared. Pikachu stopped running and looked around hoplessly.   
  
"Pika?" it asked in confusion. Little did it know that Alakazam was a few metres behind him.  
  
"Pikachu!" Ash cried desperatly at the unsuspecting pokemon. "Behind you!" You can't lose this.You CAN'T, his mind screamed in frustration. But it was no use.   
  
"Alakazam, pyswave!" Mika ordered, knowing who had won. Alakazam obeyed, the wave hit Pikachu and it collapsed for a final time to the ground.   
  
"This match is over! The winner is Mika!" the umpire declared.   
  
Ash stared, then his shaking knees gave way beneath him. As his shins hit the concrete of the trainers box, he ignored the pain, and thought of his dream.   
  
Pokemon Master? The only thing you master is losing! he thought bitterly, almost repeating one of Misty's cracks.   
  
Tears of frustration and anguish fell down his already embarassed face. A thought shot through his mind.   
Pikachu.   
  
That one word said it all, and he stood up. The height was dizzying, and the fall could be fatal if you didn't land properly. Who cares? he thought suddenly, and jumped. The streaked tears dried in the wind rushing past his face, and the famous hat that was never removed from spiky black hair was blown free.  
  
"Pika Pi!" Pikachu cried. The crowd gasped. It was like an impromptu circus act...only there was no safety net.  
  
Ash fell feet first, hit his knees against his chin, and the only damage he did was cut his lip. "Yow" he muttered. "Pikachu! Are you okay?" His thoughts were now majorly on Pikachu, and the crowd breathed a sigh on relief. They had come for a Pokemon battle, not a funeral.  
  
"Pika..." Pikachu had almost died too. It couldn't bear the thought of living without Ash.   
  
"It's okay, we'll just take ya to the pokemon center and fix ya up" Ash said cheerily, blood trickling down his quivering chin, blotched cheeks creeping up into a smile, and black eyes partly scanning for his lost hat.   
"Found it" he mumbled, leaned over and managed to pick it up without moving a foot. He then picked up Pikachu and slowly walked out of the stadium.   
  
"It'll be okay. We'll go back to Pallet and train harder" he whispered, wanting to believe his own words, but knowing that he couldn't.  
  
A/N: Okay, I know that chapter had absolutly nothing to do with Misty, but we had to give Ash a say in. Chapter five is exciting, I promise, so stay tuned! By the way, I won't post anymore chapters until tomorrow, because today I'm sitting my driver's licence test, and that takes a while, so I'll post two tomorrow! :) 


	5. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: Pokemon don't belong to me! Can I get on with the story now? Thankyou!  
  
A/N: Chapter five, Misty's back in it now and she's about to get a shock...please read and review, the rest is on the way!  
  
The three "flower" daughters of Rose sat on the sofa, and Misty, often considered by her sisters as the runt, sat oppostie them in a kitchen stool.   
  
"Alright. Tell me what's happening" Misty demanded.  
  
The three older girls eyed each other, and Lily spoke first. "You know that for a while we've been planning to go to college for our degrees in Marine Pokemon knowledge..."  
  
"And we got accepted into a college up North" Violet suddenly announced.   
  
Misty's face drained of colour. Her hands started shaking and she took a deep breath. "So, you got accepted. Congratulations."  
  
"It's no means for congratualtions" Daisy interrupted.   
  
Misty sighed. "I was afraid of that."  
  
"Um, the gym has been in the family for about five generations, and we can't excatly break that now" Lily said.  
  
Misty nodded. "And...?"  
  
"When mom...um, when mom...dies...we have to go to college. It's when the new semester starts" Violet explained.   
  
Misty glared at her. "You don't have to go to college, you know!" she burst out, the pressure being released from inside of her.  
  
"Misty, mom is paying for it. She wants us to go. What she doesn't want, however, is for the gym to be sold. She wants to keep it in the family" Daisy announced.  
  
"Okay" Misty nodded. "What does this have to do with me?"  
  
Lily sighed. "Isn't it obvious? You have to stay here and run the gym!" she said, exasperated at her sister's naievty.  
  
Misty gasped in shock. "You want me to stay and run the gym? Are you all crazy?! You want me to stay here so you can prance off to college and come back with a fancy degree and qualifications for another job!?" she screamed, hyperventilating.  
  
"No, we don't, but mom does" Violet said seriously.   
  
"I can't! I have to go back to Ash --" Misty stopped herself. Ash. Her sisters didn't know about...  
  
"Why? I'm sure he can manage without you" Lily shrugged.  
  
"I know. He can...manage without me..." Misty whispered. She shook her head. "No! I can't stay here, I have to keep training!"  
  
"You can train here! Your pokemon will love it!" Daisy predicted.  
  
"I can't...why...why did mom..." Misty stumbled over her words and sunk back down into her pit of tears.  
  
"It's the only question we've been asking ourselves the past week. Look, if you won't do it for us, do it for mom. It's what she wants. We'd be quite happy to stay here and run the gym, but we're going to college for her" Violet said sensibly.  
  
Misty shook her head. "I don't even wanna think about it..."  
  
"I know you don't, but you have to!" Lily yelled. "You have to face this. We have, and we may not have accepted it, we probably never will, but at least we're facing it! You can't just live in a dream world of pokemon and Ash and Lord only knows what else!"  
  
Misty stood up, chin quivering, eyes swimming in tears. She sat back down. "I know. I can't accept it. I went away, and never called, and mom and you guys waited...now she's gonna die..."   
  
It was like fate had turned its back on her. She left with great pokemon, a bright future, fell in love...but she never called. Occasionally wrote. And now she was getting paid back for it. Or that's how it seemed to her.  
  
"Misty, this isn't your fault. It's no one's fault. Nobody could've given her cancer" Daisy pointed out.  
  
"Just consider it. If you don't, we sell the gym and feel guilty about mom. If you do, we'll be forever in your debt and mom will be grateful" Violet said gently.   
Misty looked at the brown carpet that needed a good vacuum.  
  
"Let me think about it..." she said quietly.  
  
Her three sisters stood up. "Okay. Thankyou. I think we've got a challenge at the gym now, so we'll leave you alone" Daisy said.  
  
Thank God, she thought. Thank God they're leaving me by myself, thank God I can get through this by myself...  
  
A thought struck her mind. You can't get through this by yourself. This is your mother who's dying, not a long-lost aunty! More guilt was absorbed into Misty.   
  
As soon as her sister's left, she screamed. It was a scream full of pain, and anguish, and guilt.  
  
"Why did you do this to her!" Misty yelled a rhetorical question into the sky, which had no answer but to keep shining its always shining sun as if terminal did not mean death.  
  
At its master shouting, Togepi woke up and looked on, confused. To it, Misty was not one to scream and cry, and suddenly it wondered...but if it was...it couldn't...  
  
No. Togepi was not going to think like that. Misty collected herself and fell onto a couch, out of breath and shaking like an autumn leaf still clinging desperatly to the tree. Misty was still trying to cling on to a miracle. A miracle that could never come.  
  
She picked up the remote and pushed the power button. A last resort for distraction, the box burst into life and an announcer's voice was heard.  
  
"And the Orange League semi-finals were confirmed today, this is the list in alphabetical order..."   
  
Misty sat up as the list started. Her half-deaf ears consumed the unfamiliar names.   
  
"Hamilton, Injuka...what kind of last name is that?" she wondered out loud.   
  
After "J" came "K" like any literate person knew. Misty smiled, comfort filling her before they even started with the K's.   
  
"Kyatre, Susan...Longwood, Michael..."   
  
Misty fell back down, as if someone had shot her. Where was Ketchum, Ash? Where was he? Her shoulders started shaking again and she glared. Why had the God she had followed her whole life gone against her? What had she done wrong?  
  
She silently turned off the TV, anger and pain boiling inside her, and ran to the kitchen. Togepi stared, still confsued, still worried.   
  
Misty's delicate hands searched around the microwave, until they hit something. A knife. And a big one at that.  
  
Togepi's eyes widened. "Toge Toge!" it cried.  
  
"What's the point?" Misty whispered.  
  
"Togebree!" Togepi yelled, running up to her as fast as its minute legs would carry it.  
  
"Don't, Togepi. There's no point. Ash has lost, mom's gonna die, so why don't I?" Misty asked, sounding straightforward. Knife in right hand, left wrist out, Misty inhaled deeply.   
  
"TOGE!!!" Togepi found all its strength and pyschically knocked the knife out of Misty's hand and onto the floor.  
  
Outraged, Misty picked Togepi up and yelled. "Why did you do that?! Let me make my own choices, for once!"  
  
Togepi wailed, and Misty instantly realised what she'd nearly done.   
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...this is all weird...it's not your fault...it's mine...I won't do that again...calm down...." She cried too, thinking of what she had lost, nearly lost, and was about to lose.  
  
A/N: Yay, five down, eleven to go! Yes, there are 16 chapters in this story, but trust me, it's kinda good if you read the whole thing...please review, all comments help me write better stories for you to enjoy! 


	6. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, I am not Satoshi Tajiri, and I don't own Warner Brothers, Gamefreak, Ninetendo etc.  
  
A/N: Misty's made a decision! But what will it be? Will it bring her true happiness? Well, you can't be happy in a situation like hers, but...y'know! R&R!  
  
A week later, Misty had thought -- a lot. As she walked back from the hospial, a place that had come to be familiar after the short period of time, her head spun. Her mother had a month. A month until the end, a month to say goodbye, to say sorry, to drudge up all regrets.  
But Misty was thinking about something else as she walked, Togepi in arms. Ash. And it seemed selfish at a time like this, but she was longing for him, for his voice, for his mistakes...it was almost like trying to get off a drug. She was suffering withdrawl, and soon she knew that would be combined with depression and grief. One word equalled that equation.  
  
Lethal.  
  
"Hey Lily." Misty smiled as she walked through the gym. But it wasn't a happy smile, and they all knew it.  
  
"Hi Misty. Did you see mom?"  
  
Misty nodded, her infrequently brushed hair slightly swaying with the motion. "I've gotta talk to you...and Daisy and Violet..." This wouldn't be easy for her, but a great relief to everyone else.  
  
Violet finished a match, and they sat down in the back office. Misty gulped and choked back tears that had nearly drowned her for the past week.   
  
"I've come to a decision..." The other sisters listened carefully and Misty lowered her voice to a whisper.   
"I'll stay."   
  
The two words said it all, and the other sisters smiled.   
"On behalf of mom, thankyou. Thankyou so much" Daisy said honestly.   
  
They all knew it was a big responsibility. Misty would have to run the gym until she had kids, which was a long way off, so that she could pass it down. She could sell it, but all four sisters knew that she wouldn't.  
  
"So, I live here and everything now?" Misty asked warily.   
  
Lily nodded. "There's a little house thing attached to the gym, that's where we live now and where you'll live."  
  
Misty drew in a shaky breath. If only Ash was here...if only her mom wasn't going to die...there were too many if only's, and they multiplied with Misty's increasing guilt.  
  
"You'll have to look after out pokemon too" Violet added to Misty's worries.  
  
"Well thanks for telling me" Misty sighed, angry but sounding anything like it. She felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulder's, and she couldn't do anything about it. Not even Hercules could move the world, and Misty was only a ten-year old girl.  
  
"It's not that big a job" Lily shrugged. "They love it here, and they love you. There's no point taking them if we're gonna be studying."  
  
Misty nodded. "I see." It was all she said before she calmly stood up and left, her heart sinking like the "Titanic." Her fate was sealed, she could do nothing but wait...wait for her mother to die...wait for her children to have the gym...  
  
Waiting is a game that requires paitence, and Misty knew her paitence was limited. The only person she was paitent on was Ash, and she had nearly exploded on him.  
  
"Why? Is there no justice in the world?" Misty whispered, then instantly regretted it. Her mother was in a far worse position than her, but here she was, grumbling like a spoilt brat about how unfair life was, when her mother's life was about to end.  
  
"Don't do this to me!" she yelled at the sky, a thing she had been yelling at a lot during the past week. "You've done enough, don't do this!" she pleaded, before her knees gave way and she dropped to the ground, body trembling and eyes sore from all the crying that had taken place.  
  
She stood up, kicked at the ground, then sighed. She was so selfish, thinking about her unfairness while her mother was dying.  
  
"Misty." She turned around to face Daisy, who had witnessed the whole episode. Embarassed, Misty turned red and looked at the ground.  
  
"I'm sorry" she mumbled, mentally willing her sister to leave.  
  
"Don't beat yourself up. It's not your fault. You forgot Togepi" Daisy informed her, holding out the confused egg pokemon.  
  
Misty gasped. She had never forgotten Togepi, she would never want to. "I..I'm so stupid...Togepi..." Misty let more tears escape and Daisy hugged her tight.   
  
"You're not stupid. We've all gone a little bit mad. Tomorrow we've got no challenges, so we'll close up the gym, go see mom, then we'll go have some fun" she promised.  
  
Misty wasn't sure if she could remember how to have fun, but nodded. "Okay." She pulled away, smiled, and walked into the little house that was soon to be only hers.   
"Oh, Ash. If only you were here..." Her heart didn't seem to beat anymore, it only seemed to tear through her chest. Now it was crying out for the impossible.   
  
She flipped on the TV again, hoping for yet more distraction and steering clear of the kitchen.   
  
"And now, our daily update of the Orange League...Gary Oak is through to the finals, continuing his no-loss streak..."   
  
A voice droned on and Misty went numb. Of all the people in the world, Ash had to be behind his rival. Let it go. Let him go, a voice inside her ordered. Let him go.   
  
"But I can't" Misty whimpered, visioning his face, a face full of disappointment and hurt. Kinda looks like your face, another evil voice said. But it was the truth, and Misty knew that. Her jewelled eyes drowned in tears, and her youthful skin looked like it had aged thirty years in one week.   
  
"Toge Toge." Togepi tried to comfort her, and managed to get a little smile from it.  
  
"Togepi, I will never ever forget you again" she promised.  
  
"Bree!" the little egg pokemon exclaimed, still unaware of the trauma surronding it, while its master couldn't help avoiding it.  
  
A/N: What can I say? Will Misty ever see Ash again!? Chapter 7 will be up soon, gimme credit, I put up three chapters today! Look out for more soon! Please review, luv ya for it! :) 


	7. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, but I wish I did! I could have aaaallll the merchandise that way!  
  
A/N: I lied, there's only fifteen chapters, not sixteen, I was getting a little carried away with my story, haha! Hope you like, keep those reviews coming!   
  
For the next two weeks, Misty remembered how to laugh, and so did her sisters. They went to plays, shopping, out for dinner, and never failed to visit their mother. And, the thing that puzzled Misty, was that it never rained, although it was Januaray.  
  
She woke up one morning to light noises on the roof. She instantly recognised it as rain, and pulled more blankets around her, almost like a shield from the rain.   
She smiled, feeling more sane than she ever had. Togepi snored quietly beside her, and Misty was about to resume sleeping, when she heard the front door slam.  
  
She bolted up and checked her watch. 7:01. Her sisters were never up that early. Was it a visitor?  
  
Misty crept out of bed and quietly opened her door, coming face-to-face with Lily. They both let out a little cry of surprise, but Misty already knew something was wrong. Lily looked a little apprehensive, and the look gave Misty pulsating chills up and down her back.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked, straightforward, no beating around the bush.  
  
Lily's eyes filled with tears. "Mom died. Last night. In her sleep." The tears spilled over, though there was no sobbing.   
  
Misty stood in shock, unable to believe it. They had all known it was going to happen, but now that it had she wasn't ready.  
  
"No..." She slumped to the ground and Lily knelt beside her.  
  
"She wasn't in any pain. She died peacefully."  
  
"I never said goodbye!" Misty yelled in her sister's face, causing a look of shock and confusion. They had seen their mother the night before, and there was nothing to suggest she was going to go that particular night.  
  
Misty stood up and ran, still in her pyjamas, outside into the rain, leaving Lily behind, sobbing quietly. She ran with feet that got saturated with morning dew, and fabric that absorbed the rain.  
  
"Mom! I never said goodbye!" Misty screamed into the sky, full of agony and aching for her mother.   
  
A roll of thunder was heard, and Misty ran down the street, knowing she looked ridiculous but not caring.   
The rain streaked her face as much as her tears, and her delicate feet stumbled under the slick grass.   
  
As she reached the outskirts of Cerulean, she crumpled to the ground and cried harder than she ever had. She trembled with distress and cold, and pounded at the ground with her fists.   
  
"She didn't deserve this! I deserve it! ME!" Misty screamed with all the air she thought possible. "Do you hear me? Take me! I deserve to die! Not mom! Me! Misty!" She meant every word, and thought of the knife back home as the words escaped.  
  
"Misty! Misty!" She heard the voices, and turned to face Violet's car, being driven by Violet herself, with Daisy up front and Lily in the back.   
  
The car approached and Misty weakly stood up. "Get in!": Daisy ordered as Lily opened the back door. Misty dragged herself over and reluctantly climbed in. She was instantly greeted with a blanket and a hug so tight it was almost cramped.  
  
"God, Misty! We just lost mom, we don't wanna lose you too!" Lily yelled, yet in relief. Pneumonia was a killer too, and they all knew it.  
  
"Come on, let's go home" Daisy suggested quietly, holding Togepi, and Misty nodded.   
  
"I deserve...not mom...me" the words couldn't come, no matter how hard she tried, but she was half-grateful. If her sister's found out about her suicidal tendinces, they would kick up a massive fuss.  
  
Lily put an arm around her little sister's shoulder, and they both cried, willing for the truth to be a big joke.   
"It'll be okay...it's gonna be alright..." Lily crooned to her little sister as if she were five years old.  
  
But Misty didn't believe her. It couldn't be okay. How could it be okay if their mother, the person who cared and provided and raised them, was gone forever? It didn't make sense to anyone.  
  
"The funeral's been arranged" Daisy said quietly.  
  
"Already?!" Misty exclaimed in surprise.   
  
"We've been planning it with mom for a while" Violet explained. "It's in three days" Violet added.  
  
The car pulled up in the gym's back driveway, and the four sisters stepped out into the pouring rain, all clinging to each other. It wasn't going to be easy, especially for Misty, who suddenly had the huge responsibility of running the gym by herself.   
  
"We're gonna get Mitch to take over the gym until we leave" Daisy explained, indicating the gym's security guard, as they walked in.   
  
Misty frowned in puzzlement. "When are you guys going?"   
  
The other three sisters glanced at each other and Misty knew that it wasn't going to be good news.   
  
"Two weeks. It's when the next enrollment starts" Lily said mournfully.   
  
Misty fell back onto a chair, still drenched from the rain, and inhaled deeply. She was not going to cry. She had done enough of that, and it never changed anything.  
  
"Misty, we're sorry..." Violet trailed off, but Misty shook her head.  
  
"It's not your fault, so don't apologise." She sounded very straightforward, and cold, no warmth was found in those huge eyes anymore, only pain and ice. No one could make them glow again.  
  
"I think I'll get dressed" Misty said calmly.  
  
"Do you want a shower?" Daisy asked gently.  
  
Misty slowly nodded, stood up, and walked towards the bathroom. After entering the room, she closed the door, locked it, leaned against it, and quietly cried to herself. She had promised herself not to, but now her emotions were taking over her actions. Her brain almost didn't function properly anymore, it was just the overwhelming feeling of sorrow and loss.   
  
She sighed, exhaling her grief...or at least part of it...and turned the taps clockwise. Warm water streamed through the tiny holes, and Misty began to undress herself.  
  
She stopped for a minute, and looked in the mirror as the sound of the steady water throbbed in the back of her mind. She recalled people's words.   
  
"Rose's youngest...wants to train water Pokemon...such a tomboy...would never wear a dress...would look so lovely if she did...beautiful eyes..."   
  
Her so-called "beautiful" eyes were now an ugly grey, or at least she thought so.   
  
Misty stepped in the shower, the hot water bringing only physical comfort to her rain-saturated body. She mentally yelled at herself. She should've been prepared for this. Rose was going to die. It was uneviatable, they all knew it.  
  
So why did Misty feel so bad?  
  
She leaned against the walls, closed her eyes and ignored the now increasing heat of water that was stinging at her like a Tentcruel's attack. This had been her mother's shower. Her dead mother's shower. And now she was standing in it. The same place her mother had been standing in the day she found out she had terminal cancer...  
  
Misty's eyes flew open. She gave a cry of shock and leapt out, trembling and crying. That was her mother's shower, not hers. She had to respect it.   
  
"Why? Mom, why did you leave me here?" Misty whispered, turning off the water and drying herself off with a towel.   
  
As she walked into her room in a zombie-like state, she sighed. Would things ever be the same?  
  
A/N: Okay, I'd just like to warn everyone that in the next chapter, the time span suddenly moves forward, but it's explained in the next chapter! Coming soon! :) 


	8. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: Pokemon is not mine! Okay? Please don't sue me, I can't afford it!   
  
A/N: Like I said, huge time span, but nothing to worry about, you'll get the jist of it!  
  
"Marill, did you really have to squirt Pysduck?" Misty sighed, shaking her head at the mouse-water pokemon. Marill grinned, and so did Misty.   
  
The last minute had been a disaster. Marill and Pysduck, two of her pokemon, had gotten into a big fight over some ridiculous thing. Marill had squirted Pysduck in frustration, and in response, ditzy Pysduck had pulled down the table cloth off the table - along with all the leftovers from lunch that were now sinking into the carpet.  
  
It had been five years since her mother's death, and her sister's were still hard at work at the university. There had been a small scare, with Violet threatning to drop out because of the pressure, but that was over with. Now Misty was relieved it would only be two more years until they came home for good. To her, two years didn't seem long, considering the anguish of the past five years.  
  
She dragged out the vacuum cleaner and started sucking up the stubborn crumbs that refused to leave the carpet.   
  
"Misty!"   
  
"Yeah?" Misty yelled back at Mitch, the gym security guard.  
  
"You got another challenge!"  
  
Just what I need, Misty thought bitterly. "Coming!" She recalled her pokemon, turned off the vacuum cleaner and ran to the gym, which was just next door.  
  
She stepped inside and smiled at her challenger. "Hi, I'm Misty, I'll be your opponent."  
  
"My name's Rad" the ten-year old introduced himself.   
  
Misty checked the Pokemon League computer, which had now become compulsory for gym leaders to do before a match.   
A year ago a kid had gone around beating gym leaders for money without a licence, so now every gym had with a computer containing all the trainers names.  
  
"Yup, you're clean...come on through." Misty lead him to the water based gym and the battle started.   
  
The kid was so confident, he reminded Misty of Ash. She had never forgotten him. But in truth, he had really been the last thing on her mind since her mother died.  
  
Misty lost, mostly because she had a huge type disadvantage. The kid had obviously studied. He had a strong Raichu and a Vileplume, which were both dominant against water.   
  
She happily handed over a cascade badge, though the trainer was much happier than she was.  
  
She walked slowly back to the house, thinking of Ash and her mother. As she collapsed on a couch, ignoring the mess that still needed to be cleaned, she heard a familiar noise.  
  
"New messages, new messages." It was her answering machine. Misty groaned and walked over. She hit a button and heard the tape start.  
  
"Like, hi Misty!" She smiled at Lily's chirpy voice. "Listen we're, like, on vacation in two weeks so we're gonna come down and see you! Isn't that, like, totally amazing? Catch up with ya soon, sweetie!"   
  
The message ended and Misty saved it, not for the information, but for the small family ties she had left with her sisters. The next message started.  
  
"Misty, hi, it's Professor Oak here." Misty jumped. What would Professor Oak be calling for? "I just wanted to congratulate you on the fine state of your gym." Misty exhaled with relief. "I know you've been through a lot of pressure, but I'm coming up to Cerulean soon, and I have a few of your mother's things..."  
  
Her mother's things? Five years after she died?  
  
"Just some trainers things. I'll call you when you're not busy. Bye!"   
  
Misty's eyes filled with tears. She couldn't ignore the fact that her mother was a much-loved person, everyone around probably had memoirs of her. But she was grateful.  
  
"Hello, this is the official Pokemon League inspector." A formal sounding voice penetrated Misty's thoughts and she paid attention. "I have to do my annual rounds, and I will be visiting your gym in about two weeks. Please make sure it is tidy, up-to-date and acceptable for the Pokemon League."  
  
Misty started biting her nails, a habit that she had developed as a child. If the gym didn't pass, it would be shut down. And her mother would be ashamed. It was this time of year that always made Misty nervous.  
  
As if a trigger had been set off, Misty stood bolt upright and started the vacuum cleaner again, hurridly removing the mess.  
  
"Oh God, save me, please save me, I can't do this..." It was a prayer Misty had been saying constantly for the past five years.   
  
She finished the vacuuming and sprinted back to the gym. Summer was on its way, and she ran in bare feet to avoid sweaty smelly feet that she despised.  
  
"Mitch!" Misty yelled desperatly. "Miiiiiitch!" She was panicking. And she didn't have her inhaler. A bad asthmatic, Misty usually always had her inhaler, but today it wasn't in her pocket, and an attack was not impossible in a panicky condition.  
  
Mitch came running up in a matter of seconds. "Misty, what's wrong?"   
  
He had always thought she was a little over-reactive, but it must be the result of being shattered with a death at the age of 10. The truth was, however, that no matter how over-reactive, Misty was much more mature than most girls her age. Even Mitch realised that.  
  
"The League....inspector....is coming...two weeks..." Misty wheezed her way through the sentance and sat down on a chair to calm herself.  
  
"The League inspector is coming? And you've got two weeks? What are you worried about?" Mitch raised an eyebrow.   
  
Misty glared. She hated people who disagreed. "I'm worried about the gym being shut down and being disloyal to Mom, is that a good enough reason?" she hissed.  
  
Mitch nodded immediatly, not wanting to get in trouble with her. Misty ran the gym, she could fire or hire people, though she hadn't fired anyone yet, just been through a couple of retirements.  
  
"We have to get this place in shape!" Misty declared, standing up. Mitch looked around. It was in shape. The gym had come second only to Pallet's new gym in the Pokemon League ranking.  
  
"Last year we were second" Mitch offered his input, but Misty rejected it.  
  
"That was last year! And we were second to Pallet! I will NOT come second this year, second is not good enough, is that understood?" Misty yelled, her asthma miraculously recovering. Mitch nodded once again.   
  
"Right. I want you to tell all the cleaners to get ready, I want the pool thouroughly cleaned by the time he gets here, the Pokemon are to be treated in time, I want the very last stand in the spectator's section spotless. Clear?" Misty asked.  
  
Mitch saluted her and she grinned. She was fifteen, but very organised and demanding, no one to mess with.  
  
"We'll start tomorrow. I think you can all go home, it's four, I'll stay here in case anyone else comes" Misty offered.  
  
Mitch looked surprised. "Thanks, I'll tell the others."  
  
"Good. See ya tomorrow!" Misty said cheerily. Mitch waved and Misty looked at him as he left. He was a good guy, and an excellent security gaurd. He had recently got married to a girl from Saffron City, who was now pregnant, and Misty couldn't be more thrilled than Mitch himself.  
  
She sat down next to the pool and dangled her feet in its sparkling blue water, which was a great relief to her hot feet. She looked down in the water and her reflection stared back. She was fifteen years old, single, no parents, a gym leader, part-time Pokemon trainer and through all that she had kept her sanity. Some people would call her a heroine. But the people who knew her best knew her as Misty, the tomboy who didn't stand for injustice or cruelty.   
  
And as her feet cooled in the huge pool, she looked up at the roof, and quietly said hello to her mother.  
  
A/N: Right-o, time for some more chapters! We're over half way there now, so don't worry, the conclusion will happen sooner than you think! Please review, love ya! :) 


	9. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: Pokemon is not mine, but damn, I wish it was!   
  
A/N: Here we are, chapter nine! Only six more to go! Now, just remember, Misty is nearly sixteen and Ash is already sixteen. I've altered the ages they play on the show just to make the story work, so don't write to me and say that Misty is older than Ash, I know that, it's just for this story!  
  
Ash was nervous. Extremely nervous. It was two days walk to Cerulean, and he had got there. Now he was considering turning around, but Pikachu urged him on.  
  
"Pika Pi! Pikachu, chu!" it yelled. It was more excited than Ash about seeing Misty, which was weird. It wanted to catch up with Togepi more than anything.  
  
"Okay, okay, calm down..." Ash trailed off, staring at the sight in front of him. The Cerulean Gym. "I guess I've got no choice" he sighed, although he knew he had another choice. Home. Getting more badges.   
  
He had come second in the Pokemon League the year before, and after training up his pokemon and earning 8 more badges, Ash was pysching him and his pokemon up for the next competition, which was in three weeks.  
  
He strode up confidentally, heart pounding, palms in a fresh outbreak of sweat, Pikachu by his side.   
  
"Okay, let's go." Ash's voice wavered and he knocked on the door.  
  
His head spun. Maybe he should've called first. Maybe she was busy.  
  
The maybes made no room for the nows, because Misty was opening the door. She too was flushed and frantic, cleaning up for the League inspector who was coming in a week.  
  
"Can I help you?" she asked politly, not quite recognising the person before her. But on closer examination, she realised it was...  
  
"ASH!" she screamed, holding onto the door jam for support. It had been five years since she had seen him, five long years with no word from him.  
  
"Hi Misty." Ash's face crept up into a smile at the girl who seemed to have hardly changed, except in height and...he had to admit...attractiveness.  
  
"What are you doing here?!" Misty asked breathlessly. She was nearly hyperventilating. "Not that I mind, but...Ash, it's been five years!"   
  
She was overwhelmed with surprise and now, curiosity. The boy she had fallen in love with was back. And he seemed no different.  
  
"I know. I thought I'd surprise you with a small visit" Ash explained.  
  
Misty grinned. "Hey, Pikachu!" she squealed, picking up the electric mouse.  
  
"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu replied happily, glad to see her.  
  
"Come in! Sorry about the mess and all..." Misty said sheepishly, though the house was nothing but a mess. She had kept it meticulously clean for the past week since she had had word about the inspector coming.  
  
Ash took in his surroundings. Flowers were in various parts of the room, paintings of mermaids and water pokemon were hung around and, in the middle of the mantleplace, stood a photo of Misty's family when she looked a lot younger.  
  
"Do you want anything to drink?" Misty asked politly, being the pleasant host she had grown to be since her mother's death.  
  
Ash shook his head. "No thanks, I'm okay." He sighed and smiled at the same time. "Long time, no see, huh?"  
  
Misty sat opposite him on a kitchen chair. "I know! We have a lot to catch up on! How did you go in the Pokemon League?"  
  
"I got second last year..."  
  
"Second!" Misty shrieked, wanting to throw her arms around him. "That's so much better than the Orange League" she added calmly.  
  
"The Orange League disagreed with me. I went back to the Indigo one."   
  
As Ash explained his ordeals, Misty stared intensly into his eyes. They were the same colour she had seen them as, the same warmness and determenation imprinted in them.  
  
Ash noticed this and raised an eyebrow. "Is there food on my face or something?" he asked.  
  
Misty gasped in embarassment. "No! No, I was just thinking..."  
  
"About what?" the ever-nosey Ash asked.  
  
"You...Mom...the last five years..." Misty sighed, though Ash couldn't tell if it was an unhappy or pleasant sigh.  
  
"Well, I've been doing pretty much the same thing...what about you?" Ash asked politly as Pikachu caught up with Togepi.  
  
Misty looked at the ground. "Um, I've just been running the gym..."  
  
"By yourself?!" Ash seemed amazed.  
  
"Well, yeah. Mom's...uh...gone, and my sisters are at University for another two years, and Mom wanted to keep it in the family" Misty explained.  
  
Ash looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry" he muttered.  
  
"Oh don't be!" Misty's face broke into a grin. "It's not your fault. You're not family, you couldn't have run the gym or prevented Mom's cancer so don't apologise!" She laughed at the thought.  
  
Ash smiled with her. "So what's with all the cleaning?"  
  
"Oh you have no idea. The Pokemon League insepctor is coming in a week and I have to have this place and the gym spotless before he arrives or it'll be shut down or sold." Misty filled the last sentance with a sorrow that hadn't arrived, but easily could.  
  
"I'm sure you'll be fine" Ash smiled. She was so easy to talk with, even if it had been five years since he last saw her.  
  
"It's easier said than done" Misty sighed. Her wistful expression was soon taken over by a happy one. "Well, do you need somewhere to stay? I've got two spare rooms, you can take your pick."  
  
Ash looked taken back. He had planned to stay in Cerulean City, but wasn't expecting Misty to offer him a room. "S-sure, okay" he stammered.  
"Okay, over here then...there's this one" Misty indicated a small, but spacious room with a double bed and more aquatic pictures hung around. "And then there's this one..." She showed another, slightly bigger room that was right next to the bathroom.  
  
"Okay, I'll take this one" Ash shrugged, not really caring where he stayed.  
  
Misty grinned. "Closer to the bathroom so the bogey man won't come and attack you?" she teased.  
  
Ash scowled. She and Brock had both known about his fear of the dark, and no matter how many times they camped out, it never decreased. "No, I just like it" he explained.  
  
Misty's grin went wider. "Uh-huh, I believe you..." Ash glared at her, something she had missed for the last five years. "Here, let me take your bag" Misty offered apologetically. It was noticebly heavier than when she had last held it, but she said nothing.   
  
"Thanks. Is there anything I can do to be a better guest?" Ash asked politly and Misty laughed.  
  
"You can keep out of my hair when the inspector comes, that'll do" she shrugged.  
  
Ash grinned. He agreed with her verbally, but mentally he had other ideas. He would be doing the exact opposite.  
  
A/N: They're finally reunited! I'm so happy! :) It's just not the same when they're apart...okay, I've babbled enough, time to post the shocking chapter ten! Well, it's not that shocking, but it's enough to make you wanna read on, right? ;) 


	10. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, Nintendo, Gamefreak, yada yada yada...don't sue me! :)  
  
A/N: I don't know why I made Ash do what he does in this chapter, but I did it, I can't change it cos the rest of the story will be ruined, but here it is, chapter ten. Ash's huge mistake. :( Remember, he is dense, nothing will change that!  
  
"One day to go, one day..." Misty muttered nervously as she swept the spectators stands.   
  
The last performance had been two days ago, when three promising girls had made their debut in Cerulean. The crowd had been massive, not to mention lazy.   
  
"Misty!" She looked down as her name was called. Ash was below her, near the pool. Over the last two weeks they had sort of started from where they had left off, but things weren't exactly the same.  
  
"Ash, now is not a good time..." Misty started as she went back to her sweeping.  
  
"Happy Birthday!" Ash yelled, and Misty stood bolt upright. Ash now had a mischevious grin on his face.  
  
She blushed. "Thankyou. But my birthday is tomorrow." Her sixteenth birthday was the very next day, and Ash wasn't the only one who had remembered. She had gotten a phonecall from her sisters, who were arriving in four days, parcels from various friends, including Brock, but so far Ash had given her nothing, and she wasn't surprised if he had forgotten. It had been five years.   
  
"Your present will be here tomorrow!" Ash declared.  
  
Misty sighed. "That's great, Ash, but I'm kinda busy right now, so could you...you know..." She didn't have a nice way of saying buzz off.  
  
Ash nodded. "You got it!" And with that he walked out of the gym, much to Misty's confused stares.  
  
"That was odd..." she murmered, then shook her head. "You've only got one day!" she reminded herself, and frantically began sweeping again.   
  
It took her three hours to finish sweeping the stands, and by that time her staff had done everything else - cleaning the pool, taking extra special care of the pokemon, and hanging a special banner, saying "Welcome Inspector."   
  
"Finished" Misty sighed with relief. She took a last minute check over everything, and then, satisfied, she retreated back to her house, to find Ash playing with her pokemon.  
  
"I think Togepi remembers me!" he exclaimed as soon as she walked through the door.  
  
Misty smiled, vivid memories flooding her mind. "Ash, you're not easy to forget" she said quietly.  
  
"Huh?" Ash half-queired, more interested in the pokemon than her comments.  
  
Misty shook her head. "Nothing. I'll get dinner started" she offered, and headed to the kitchen.  
  
"You finish cleaning the gym?" Ash asked.  
  
"Yeah, pretty much, I've just gotta go over everything tomorrow on my checklist" Misty shrugged, holding up a clipboard with a neat checklist.   
  
Ash marveled in silence. How did she do it? How did she run a gym all by herself for five years? How did she stay so organised in the midst of it all?  
  
"Misty, I think I'll be leaving soon." He said it so calmly and suddenly that it scared Misty. She discreetly clung to the kitchen bench.  
  
"R-really? Why?" she inquired.  
  
Ash shrugged. "I've got badges to win and pokemon to catch, y'know? I think I'll go in about a week."  
  
He couldn't do this to her again. He couldn't. Misty saw some sort of charm in him that no one else could see. That's why she was attracted to him, and why she was falling for him all over again.  
  
She felt like saying something like, stay a bit longer, but she restrained herself. If he stayed longer she would fall faster, and then when he left she would be hit with the same pain that occured the first time around.  
  
"Okay, that's fine, do you need somewhere to stay? I get discounts on motels and stuff cos of my position" she offered politly.  
  
Ash smiled. "I can find my own way round, but thanks, anyway." He then resumed to playing with the pokemon, and Misty resumed to dinner.  
  
The next day, Misty was frantic. She was not the cool, collected, organised Misty everyone in the gym knew. She was panicking, she was rattling instructions off so fast it was almost as if she were speaking in a foreign language, and she was dressed tidily for once.  
  
"Mitch! Do your tie right! Jo...where is Jo?!" She started wheezing, and pulled her inhaler out for relief.  
  
Ten minutes later, everything was in order, and all the employees were lined up with Misty at the front entrance, nervous for the arrival of the inspector.   
  
A black, impeccable looking car pulled up with tinted windows. It was almost like a star had arrived.  
  
As he stepped out, he took in his surroundings. Neatly trimmed grass, shiny windows, and neat staff.  
  
"Hello, welcome to Cerulean Gym. I'm Misty, the gym leader" Misty politly introduced herself, shaking hands with the inspector and not showing one trace of the nervousness that was mounding inside her.  
  
"Thankyou, it's a pleasure to be here. I'm Lionel Hutchings" the inspector smiled warmly, not surprised by Misty's young age.  
  
Without any furthur hesitation, Misty took Lionel into the gym, followed discreetly by her staff, and showed him every inch. The pokemon had been instructed to be on their best behaviour, which they were, and everything was going according to plan.  
  
An hour later they stood back outside, Lionel with an even warmer smile.  
  
"I do believe this is one of the finest gyms I've seen yet" he announced.  
  
Misty smiled politly, leaping for joy inside of her. "Thankyou very much. We put a lot of work into..." She trailed off at the end of her sentance. She could hear something.   
  
So could Lionel. And all her staff. And they all turned their heads to witness Ash Ketchum driving up the gym's driveway in a hot-rod convertible with a blaring sound system - that was blaring some of the latest rap and dance tunes.  
  
"Happy Birthday, Misty!" he yelled, unaware of the mayhem that was certain to unravel at any minute.  
  
Misty went numb. She stared at Ash, and the car, then at the shocked face of Lionel. That was when her heart broke in two. Lionel didn't look amused. In fact, he looked angry.   
  
"What is this?" he demanded, pointing to the car in front of them.  
  
Misty tried to regain herself. "Um, I really...really don't know..."  
  
"What do you think of your pressie?" Ash grinned, obviously very proud of his efforts. "It needs a little mechanics, but..." He never finished his sentance. Misty excused herself and walked up.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked quietly through clenched teeth.  
  
"Delivering your present!" Ash exclaimed.  
  
"Go. I thought you had grown up Ash, but I was so obviously wrong. And take that crap piece of metal with you!" Misty nearly screamed, but controlled herself, for the sake of the inspector.  
  
Ash's face fell. "It was just..."  
  
"Now!" Misty ordered, pointing down the driveway. Ash silently reversed the car and drove off, Misty not really caring where he drove to.  
  
"Is that settled?" Lionel asked in obvious annoyance.  
Misty was on the verge of tears, but she swallowed them.   
"Yes, it's settled."  
  
The scenario was her worst nightmare come true. The Pokemon League inspector was angrily taking notes, her staff were looking at her sympathetically, and somewhere in the distance, she could tell her mother was scolding her in spirit.  
  
"Well, that will be all. Thankyou very much" Lionel said, shaking her hand.  
  
Misty shook her head. "No problem" she whispered. The inspector left the situation, promising a report within a week, and Misty collapsed to the ground as soon as he left.  
  
"Misty, it's okay, the gym was fine, it was Ash who ruined it, not your gym" Mitch offered.  
  
"I'm done for. I am so done for" Misty whimpered, face in hands.  
  
"You are not. Ash is done for" Mitch commented angrily, punching his left palm with his right fist.   
  
Misty said nothing. She just stayed kneeling on the grass, begging her mother's forgiveness, and figuring out what she was going to say to Daisy, Violet and Lily.  
  
A/N: Woah, Ash, that was stupid. Reeeeally stupid. It was stupid of me to write that, but if I didn't, the story wouldn't work out the way it does, so please bear with me. All will be explained in chapters eleven through fifteen, coming soon! 


	11. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, or know anyone from Pokemon! Comprendo?  
  
A/N: Will Misty forgive Ash in chapter eleven? I dunno if I would if I was her...find out in this thrilling installment of...MISTY'S DILEMMA! :)  
  
The next day, all was quiet at Misty's house. Ash hadn't come back, and at first, Misty had been too angry to care. But now she was worried. It was now approaching three o'clock in the afternoon and he still hadn't come back. What if he had crashed the car on a country road and no one knew?   
  
Pikachu was most worried about its trainer, and Misty understood when it asked her something along the lines of, "Pika Pika, Pikachu Pika Pi."   
  
Misty sighed. "Okay. Let's go." She grabbed the keys to her beat-up Holden, clutched Togepi and hopped in the car with Pikachu.   
  
Where would she start? Cerulean was huge, and even though she had lived there for all her sixteen years, she didn't even know all of it.  
  
"Let's try...let's try..." If I were Ash, where would I go to hide? Misty figrued that to find Ash, she must think like Ash.   
  
"Burger King!" Misty slammed the accelerator and headed in the direction of Ash's favourite restaurant.  
  
Sure enough, the red convertible that had caused absolute disaster the day before was parked outside. Misty sighed, scooped Pikachu into her arms and walked inside.  
  
He was there alright, but his old Pokemon League Expo hat was hiding his face. Misty walked up to the counter.  
  
"Um, a double cheeseburger and a regular coke, thanks" she asked politly, warily fishing money out of her purse.  
  
"Would you like any fries with that?" the cashier asked almost as warily.  
  
"Did I ask for fries? NO! If I wanted fries, I would've ASKED for fries!" Misty yelled at the startled cashier, causing the restaurant to elapse in silence.   
  
She glanced around in embarassment. "That's, um, three dollars sixty, thanks" the cashier annouced. Misty handed over the exact change and angrily swiped the tray of greasy food away.  
  
Pikachu sighed, and remained stationary on her shoulder as she sat next to Ash. She slammed her tray onto his table, producing a shocked stare on his face.   
  
"Now look what you've done. You've made me worse than all my sisters with PMS" she groaned, half-teasing.  
  
Ash shrugged. "Sorry." He turned away, staring out the window, but Misty wouldn't let him. She grabbed his face and turned it towards hers so he was staring straight into her eyes.  
  
"Look, I came here to talk to YOU, not your stupid cap, so listen up!" Misty was tougher than ever, especially after learning to live by herself for five years.  
  
Ash gave her a daunting gaze, and nodded. "Sorry" he tried to say, his face still painfully clutched in between her fingers.  
  
Misty let go and sighed. "I guess I should be apologising. I kinda blew up yesterday" she shrugged and started to unwrap her burger.  
  
Ash looked at her in amazement. "Well, you had every right to be. I had no place there, embarassing you and all your staff..." Ash had come to realise overnight what he had caused, and how stupid he had been.  
  
Misty forgot her burger and cocked her head to one side thoughtfully. "Don't apologise until we get our ranking. If it's bad, you're gonna have to get down on your knees and beg for life-long forgiveness" she grinned.  
  
Ash tried to smile back, but it came out as a sparing sigh. "I was just trying to give you a cool birthday present."  
  
"Oh it was cool, it was just delivered at the wrong time...where did you get it, anyway?" Misty asked, curiosity suddenly reaching her.  
  
"I won it cos of the Pokemon League. Come second and you get a car" Ash shrugged, glancing out the window at it. "I've had it for a year. I thought you might want something a little more...um...sophisticated than your car, so I drove it up from Pallet."  
  
Misty looked at him in surprise. "You did that for me?" she whispered, unable to believe it.   
  
"Well...yeah. I reckon you deserve it." Ash smiled as he turned back to her. "You run that gym so well, and you never seem to get any credit for it. So I thought, what the hell?"   
  
Misty felt her heartbeat rise, but she settled it with a disgusted and forced bite of her burger. "Yuck, this is greasy, fattening crap" she declared, immediatly throwing it back on the tray.  
  
"What are you on about, it's good" Ash disagreed, taking a big chomp out of his deluxe whopper.  
  
Misty raised an eyebrow in disgust and stood up. "I better get back. I think the guys there will be worried about me." Ash nodded and Misty stared at him in confusion. "Aren't you coming?"  
  
"Yeah. I will" Ash said vaguely. Misty looked at him and sat back down.   
  
"Come on, I'm not that mad at you. You've only got a couple of days here, make the most of it" she pleaded.  
  
Ash looked at her, taking in everything he had forgotten about for five years, and had learned again over the past days. "Okay. Let's go."   
  
She took her car, and Ash drove the convertible with Pikachu at his side. They arrived at her house in under five minutes, and Misty unlocked the door. Everyone at the gym noticed her arrival and made a note of it.  
  
"Like, hi Misty!" The familier voice of Misty's sisters hit her and she shrieked in surprise as she saw them, standing in her living room.  
  
"Hi! It's so good to see you!" Misty cried out, throwing her arms around all three of them.  
  
"Wow, totally the same here!" Violet replied. She noticed Ash at the same time her sisters did. "Well well, who's this all grown up?" she asked, sounding more like a mother.  
  
"Violet, please..." Misty said through clenched teeth, but they were already approaching him.   
  
"If it isn't little Ash Ketchum! How you been, sweetie?" Lily cooed, hugging him at the same time.  
  
"Great...just great..." he replied in a strangled voice.  
  
Lily let go and went back to Misty. "How did the inspection go?" she asked cheerily, unaware of what had happened.  
  
Misty laughed nervously. "Funny you should ask...really...it went really..." She glanced at Ash, who was pretending to look the other way. "Good. He loved it." Which had been the truth, until Ash arrived.  
  
Daisy sighed with relief. "Thank God for that, we were sooo worried you'd, like, stuff it up."  
  
"I wouldn't stuff it up!" Misty half-yelled, suddenly realising she was lying to them about that too.  
  
Daisy waved a hand distractdly, not caring anymore.   
Misty mentally sighed and took their bags. It had been a long journey for them, and Lily had already crashed on the couch from what she claimed was heat exhaustion.  
  
"So, how long are you here for?" Misty asked.  
  
Violet shrugged. "Only about a week or so. We gotta get back to our studies and everything."  
  
Misty's head spun. People were coming and going from her house like ants. She felt dizzy as she sat down and chatted aimeably with her sisters.   
  
"Misty, I think I'll go, um, take Pikachu for some fresh air" Ash said to her discreetly.  
  
Misty's huge green eyes stared at him. "Okay...don't be long, lunch will be ready soon" she said worridly, wondering where he would go.  
  
Ash smiled. "You know I wouldn't miss lunch."   
  
Misty smiled at him as he walked out the door with Pikachu at his feet, then quickly turned back to her sisters, who were talking at a thousand miles a minute.  
  
A/N: Okay, Misty hasn't TOTALLY forgiven him yet, it depends on the ranking. I promise you'll find out the ranking in chapter twleve. Eleven down, four to go! 


	12. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, so please don't sue me, I BEG you!  
  
A/N: I'm sooo sorry it took me sooo long to put up this chapter, I've just got back to school and I've been doing homework allll week. But here we go, chapter twelve - ranking time!  
  
Four days and still no word. Misty was going crazy. The inspector hadn't called, emailed or faxed a reply yet, and the League website still hadn't put up the rankings. Was the gym really that bad that he won't bother to tell me where I got? she thought to herself, but then realised that if the rankings weren't up yet, he wouldn't have decided.  
The phone rang and interrupted her thoughts. Daisy, Violet and Lily had gone to catch up with some friends, and Ash was in his room.  
"Hello, Cerulean Gym?" Misty answered, since the after hours gym phone had rung and not her personal line.  
"Hello, this is Lionel, the League Inspector" he started. Misty nearly jumped out of her skin in fright. She hadn't been ready for this. "I was wondering if I could speak to the gym leader, Misty?"  
"This is Misty." She half-gulped her reply.  
Lionel paused. "I have the rankings of the nine gyms here, and I am ringing to inform you that your gym came seventh."  
Misty literally dropped the phone in shock. She stared into space, not quite knowing what to do. She picked the phone back up and breathed deeply. "So, my gym...failed?" She whispered the last word.  
"I'm afraid so. You must resign as gym leader by the end of the month" Lionel informed her.  
Misty nearly burst into tears. The gym she had lived in and worked so hard for was no longer hers. And what her mother would say if she knew...  
"You have two options about what to do with the gym. You may either shut it down..."  
"No!" Misty yelled. "I don't want to shut the gym down" she added.  
"Okay. Well, the other option is to pass gym leadership down to a family member, whether they be by blood or marriage, who will be living in Cerulean from now until at least March next year." Lionel made the choices very clear, but left Misty in an awkward position. She couldn't shut down the gym, her mother had wished her not to, but then again, she had no family members living in Cerulean until next year.  
She fought back her tears as she replied. "Can I get back to you by the end of the month?" she asked politly.  
"Certainly. But that is the deadline. If we hear no word from you by then, the gym will be shut down or put up for auction" Lionel explained.  
Misty nodded. "Okay, thankyou." She put down the phone and immediatly burst into tears. All that work...five years...gone. Suddenly, she remembered why. One person had wiped away all her work.  
He was sitting in his room, playing with Pikachu, when Misty entered, angrier than anyone had ever seen.  
"Misty...is everything okay?" Ash asked cautiously.  
Misty walked right up to him, grabbed his shirt, and started shaking him. "You cost me and my family our gym! You and your little birthday stunt!" she screamed, letting all her feelings out.  
"Misty! Let go, would ya?" Ash half-asked, half-screamed.   
"I will NOT let go! You are in the biggest trouble of your LIFE!" Misty shoved him back on his bed with such force that he nearly twisted his neck into a dangerous position. "Just when I thought I could like you again, just when I was falling for you harder and faster than ever, you screw up big time! That gym was my life and you've stolen it from me! Now you'll pay!" Misty shouted, grabbing a lead pole and about to take a swipe, when Pikachu shocked her.  
Misty dropped the pole and fell to the ground, crying with all her heart and soul.   
Ash sat beside her. "Misty, what happened?" he asked gently.  
Misty sniffled and didn't bother to look up. "The gym came seventh. Out of nine gyms. If I don't find a family member to run it instead of me, one who'll be living in Cerulean for at least the next year, I have to shut it down or sell it. But either way, the gym's no longer mine" she explained quietly.  
Ash was stunned. It was his fault this had happened, and he knew it. "Misty...I am so sorry...I can't make up for it..."  
"No, you can't" Misty replied, feeling no sympathy or feelings towards him anymore. She despised him and everything he did and said.  
Ash went quiet. After a minute, he spoke up. "So, what are you going to do?" he asked bravely.  
"I don't have much of a choice, do I? No one in my family is living in Cerulean for the next year, either by blood or marriage, so..."  
Ash interrupted and grabbed her hand. "Did you say blood or marriage?" he asked excitidly. Misty nodded and continued to sob into the carpet as Ash's eyes lit up. "Misty, I have an idea. I just have to think through it" he explained. Misty looked up in curiosity.  
"I don't want your ideas, I can sort this out for myself" she spat almost in hatred.  
"Thought about it" Ash said and looked at her. "How about we get married?" he asked bluntly.  
Misty took half a second to absorb the words, then sat bolt upright and gasped. "You can't be serious" she whispered.  
"I'm dead serious. If you have to pass it down to a family member, why not make it me? We can get married and then I'd be a family member!" Ash thought it was a brilliant plan, but Misty disagreed.  
"Okay, have you really thought about this? It will upset your whole training...you wouldn't be able to compete in a league competition ever again, you'd never get to go home" she pointed out.  
"I'm willing to give that up if you are" Ash said seriously.  
"I am sixteen years old, for goodness sake! It's ridiculous!" Misty protested. What would her sisters say? "I can't do that, I can't stop you training." She shook her head as she said it. "And besides, I can't just marry someone cos of the gym. I could pick anyone up from the street and do that. When I get married, it will be out of love."  
Ash grinned. "But you just said that you were falling for me." He had caught her out.  
Misty blushed, feeling ten years old again. "That's true...I don't know, Ash. Marriage is such a huge thing...especially cos we're only sixteen."  
"But think about it - you'd be close to gym, you could still live in Cerulean, and it two years time you can give it to one of your sisters and do whatever you want" Ash shrugged.  
"But I'd still be married to you! I would've ruined your dreams and your hopes...I can't do that to anyone, Ash, not even you." Misty weakly smiled.  
"I can train here and compete in two years time. Two years is not a lifetime, Misty. Besides..." He thought he might as well tell her now, just to reassure her about this. "I think I'm in love with you."  
Misty stared at him with wide eyes. "Really?" Ash nodded his answer, making Misty's decision even harder. She breathed deeply and tried to analyse the situation quickly, but she couldn't. "Gimme some time to think about it. This isn't an easy choice" she said quietly.  
Ash nodded. "I know. Take all the time you need." With that they both stood up and Misty stared into his eyes.  
"You know, I'll probably never forgive you for this" she grinned. Ash smiled back, and gently kissed her cheek.  
"Take your time. I can wait" he said. Misty nodded and left in a trance. She trudged to her room, replaying the scene and trying to figure out what to do. Marry Ash? Her ten-year old dream was here, and now it seemed like a nightmare. A dilemma was suddenly weighing her down like she could never have imagined. As she lay on her bed, a tear escaped. She knew that either way she had failed her mother...and her sisters...and the gym. She could never make up for that, even if Ash ran the gym for the next two years. But it did seem like an ideal solution. She marries Ash, gives the leadership to him, he runs it for two years, then gives it to either Daisy, Violet or Lily.   
But two years of Ash's training gone for the sake of her gym? It was a huge sacrifice, and Misty was faced with a decision she never thought she would have to make. The fate of her family's gym lay in her hands, and she hated the sudden situation she was in.  
"Misty? Misty!" She heard Lily's voice and her heart started pounding. She then reminded herself that she hadn't come to a decision yet, so there was no need to worry around her sisters yet.  
"I'm in here!" she yelled back. Lily opened the door and happily jumped on Misty's bed next to her.  
"How are you?" Lily asked chirpily.  
Misty forced a smile. "I'm fine. Everything's great" she lied.  
Lily ruffled her little sister's hair as Misty protested. "Cool. Hey, we wanna take you out to dinner tonight, cos the gym looks great! Bring Ash if you want, cos it wouldn't be fair to leave him here" Lily laughed.  
Misty gulped. "Sounds fun."  
"Where do you wanna go? Anywhere but seafood, Violet is begging to go to Captain Sealord's all you can eat seafood buffet, but me and Daisy hate seafood, so anywhere but there!" Lily complained and Misty had to laugh. Lily had been most famous for complaining out of the four sisters, and she hadn't grown out of it.  
"Okay. How about Michael's Pallazo? It's all you can eat, but it's got variety" Misty explained.  
"Sure, whatever you want, sis. Go tell Ash and I'll tell the other two." Lily stood up and left with a warm smile at her sister. Misty warily smiled back and immediatly flopped back on her bed, knowing she had more to tell Ash then just about dinner.  
  
A/N: Woah. Hasty, huh? Too hasty? Tell me in your reviews, I can handle flames, I have before! Chapter 13 coming soon!  



	13. 

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon or know anyone from Pokemon, okay? Please don't sue me!  
  
A/N: Alrighty, here we go, chapter 13, I got this one up a bit quicker than the last one. After this one there's only two more to go! Yay! :)  
  
  
Two days later, the opening ceremony for the Indigo League was underway. But Ash wasn't there. He was watching it on the sofa with Misty, who was curled up in his arms with tears quietly streaming down her face.  
  
"You should be there" she sniffled.  
  
Ash shook his head. "I'm needed here" he replied solidly. He had no regrets about staying in Cerulean for Misty instead of training. He had grown up a lot since she had left, and it had done him good. "What time are your sisters due back?" he asked.  
  
"Any minute now" Misty said worridly. "I really don't wanna tell them...Ash, I'm so scared....they're gonna be so mad..." She started trembling and Ash held her tighter.  
  
"Don't worry...they'll understand. If there's anyone they should be made at, it should be me" he reassured her.   
  
Misty had told him the day before that she would marry him, not just for the gym, but also because she loved him, and wanted to be his wife.  
  
The front door open and Misty froze. Her sisters were home, and it was the moment of truth. They didn't even know Ash and Misty had feelings for each other, and   
Daisy halted in the door way, causing Violet to bump into her.  
  
"Ow! Would you watch it?" Violet demanded, but Daisy made her go quiet and pointed at Ash and Misty, who both had their eyes on the T.V, pretending not to see them.   
Lily was behind Violet and was trying not to squeal in excitement, as were her two twin sisters.  
  
"Can you believe it?!" Daisy whispered.   
  
"How cute!" Violet exclaimed quietly. It was at this point Ash and Misty "noticed" their arrival and sat up.  
  
"Hi guys" Misty tried to say without sounding nervous.  
  
Lily grinned. "Helloooo, guys" she crooned in a teasing voice.  
  
Ash shrugged. "Guess the secret's out" he smiled. The other three sisters sat opposite them, all beaming.  
  
"There's another secret I have to tell you guys...that you're not gonna like..." Misty started and the other sister's faces went into concern.  
  
"Alright, well, you can tell us" Violet said.   
  
Misty took in a deep breath and looked at them seriously. "I want you to know what happened at the inspection. I can't hide it from you. It was going well, but...well, you know it was my birthday...Ash had got me a present of a convertible..."  
  
"Cool!" Lily interrupted. She received angry stares. "Sorry. Carry on."  
  
"He drove up the gym driveway with the stereo up loud, on the grass, yelled at me and stuff..." Misty fought back tears as her sisters gaped at her and Ash.  
  
"You WHAT?!" Violet yelled at Ash, anger hitting her.  
  
Ash was taken back, though he shouldn't have been. "I take full responsiblity. I dunno what came over me. I can only say that I am so so so sorry" he said honestly.   
Violet looked back at Misty who was shaking and wheezing.  
  
"Two days ago the inspector called back and gave me the ranking...we came seventh out of nine..." Misty stopped and protected her face with her hands, afraid one of her sisters would hit her.  
  
"SEVENTH?! Do you have ANY idea what Mom would do?!" Lily yelled in rage. "Seven out of NINE?!" She stood up and glared at Misty and Ash. "You little runts! You," she pointed at Misty. "Didn't deserve to run the gym! We should've given it to a cousin or something!" she yelled in the heat of the moment.   
  
But they all knew that none of their cousins lived in Cerulean, so there was no way they could've.  
  
Misty burst into tears and wailed at her sisters. "I'm so sorry...I know I don't deserve to have the gym..."  
  
Lily sat back down and thought about what she'd said. Misty's asthma was getting worse and now she was worried.   
  
"Misty quick, where's your inhaler?" she asked.   
Misty didn't answer, she just shook her head. Lily interpreted it as it had run out or something, so she quickly pulled out hers and shoved it in Misty's mouth.   
"Quick, inhale it!" she barked at her little sister. Misty did as she was told, twice, and sat back to catch her breath.  
  
Lily sighed. "I'm sorry, Misty. I shouldn't have said that, it was kinda mean."  
  
Misty shook her head again. "Don't worry. You haven't heard the rest yet."  
  
"Oh great, there's more" Daisy spoke for the first time.  
  
"They're making me resign as gym leader, and I can only pass it down to a family member who will be living in Cerulean until March next year, otherwise we have to shut it down or sell it." Misty knew that would be the biggest blow for her sisters, and they had no trouble expressing their feelings.  
  
"How could you let this happen?!" Violet asked in astonishment. "We can't take leadership, we're enrolled in college for the next two years!"   
  
"We're gonna have to shut it" Daisy whispered, staring at the ground at the awful realisation.   
  
"No, we don't" Misty announced. Her sisters looked up in surprise. "The inspector said it had to be a family member by either blood or marriage."  
  
"But none of us are married" Lily pointed out.  
  
Misty weakly smiled, avoiding her siblings eyes. "True. But one of us is engaged." She looked up to see their reactions, which were mostly of confusion and jumbled ideas.  
  
"No we're not" Violet shook her head.   
  
Misty nodded. "I am. To the guy sitting next to me" she said calmly. Her sisters looked at Ash, as though they were making sure she was talking about him.  
  
"You and Ash are getting MARRIED?!" Lily shreiked in amazement.  
  
"Well, we thought that if we got married, then Ash could lead the gym, you guys could still go to college for the next two years, then when your classes are finished, one of you could run the gym" Misty explained.  
  
"So...you're marrying him for our gym?" Daisy asked.  
  
Misty grinned mischeviously. "Well...that, and the fact that I love him" she confessed for the first time, and gave him a small kiss.  
  
"But what about your training?" Violet inquired.  
  
Ash shook his head. "I can start again in two years" he reassured them.  
  
Misty's sisters looked a little indecisive about the idea.  
  
"I know it sounds huge, but it's the only way we can save the gym. I'm sixteen, which is legal age to get married, and it would only be for two years...but I won't marry him without your blessing" Misty concluded.  
  
The other sisters' eyes widened. "Why?" Lily asked.  
  
Misty sighed. "Cos you guys are my family. My priority. You're the only relatives I have left. I need you to be cool with this idea, or I won't feel comfortable with it."  
  
The older girls looked at each other. "It sounds simple enough" Daisy shrugged. "But who would get the gym in two years?" she asked.  
  
"I'll have it!" Violet immediatly volunteered. "I'll finish my degree so I have something to fall back on in case the gym doesn't work, but I'd be happy to run the gym again" she explained herself.  
  
Misty grinned. "Okay. So...what do you say?" she asked hopefully.  
  
Daisy stood up. "You've got my blessing" she declared. Misty's eyes lit up at the news.  
  
"Mine too" Violet stood up with Daisy.  
  
"Count me in!" Lily tried to copy a cheesy family movie and Misty laughed, then cried in joy. It had turned out better than she had ever imagined, and she got up and wrapped her arms around all three of her sisters.   
  
"Thankyou so much. I love you guys" Misty sobbed into their shoulders. Then she let go and turned to Ash. "I love you too" she added and gave him a kiss to prove it.   
  
A/N: Awww, they're gonna get married! Gimme all the flames you want, I know this is a tad unbelievable, but I just had to have it, haha! 


	14. 

DISCLAIMER: *sigh* I am getting REALLY sick of writing these, but if I don't I'll get sued or something, I have no rights to the names in here or to Pokemon etc.  
  
A/N: And now for the job that gives mothers grey hairs...it's time to prepare the dream wedding! Sounds like something off a Barbie ad, but hey, they could be Barbie and Ken...okay, no, just read the chapter!  
  
Misty and Ash wasted no time preparing their small but elegant wedding, and all through the process Misty still couldn't believe she was getting married.   
  
Her sisters were going to be her bridesmaids, of course, and Brock was flying over from Velencia to be the best man.  
  
It was a week until the wedding when Misty made a couple of phone calls. The first was to the league inspector, to painfully explain that she would pass the gym down to her husband when they got married. The inspector was pleased to hear she was engaged and wished them both the best of luck.   
  
Then Misty had come to a decision the night before. She needed a maid of honour, someone who wasn't currently married, and she hadn't come up with anyone so far, until she lay awake at two in the morning struggling with her decision. So now she had to call her and ask if she would take part as the maid of honour.  
  
"Hello, this is the Ketchum residance" Dehlia Ketchum answered politly in Pallet, unaware of the question she was about to get asked.   
  
"Hi Dehlia, it's Misty here" Misty replied.  
  
"Hi darling!" Dehlia exclaimed. She was thrilled for the two of them and had recently come to calling Misty darling or sweetie, like she was her own daughter. Misty loved her, she had always been so nice to her.  
  
"I need to ask you something, but please don't be offended when I do" Misty said seriously.  
  
"Okay, go ahead" Dehlia said.  
  
Misty composed herself. "Um, I'm in a bit of a jam. I don't have a maid of honour, and I would ask my cousins or something, but they're all married. So, I was wondering, if you would like to be my maid of honour."   
She made herself brief so she would get a quick response.   
  
There was silence on the other end of the phone. "Misty, that's..."  
  
"I'm so sorry, it's a painful question for you, I know, but you're like a mother to me, and, this is gonna sound awful, you're not really married." Misty couldn't put it nicer.   
  
It was a horrible statement. She knew that Mr. Ketchum had disappeared years ago, when Ash was a little boy, during his pokemon training, and it still pained both Dehlia and Ash. Dehlia had kept her husband's name, even though he had never been found.  
  
"Misty, I'm still married" Dehlia said quietly.  
  
"I know. But can we bend the rules a bit? I'd love for you to be my maid of honour" Misty explained.  
  
Dehlia sighed. "Aren't I a bit old for that?" she nearly laughed.  
  
"You'll never be too old" Misty smiled through the sentance.  
  
"In that case...I'd love to be your maid of honour" Dehlia confirmed.  
  
Misty gasped. "Thankyou so much. Thankyou, you don't know what this means to me" she said on the verge of tears. She couldn't believe she'd said yes. "Can you come out here soon?"  
  
"I was planning to drive up tomorrow" Dehlia said.  
  
"Great. Then we can get you a dress. Thankyou so much!" Misty exclaimed.  
  
"You're welcome, anytime Misty" Dehlia grinned.  
  
"I hate to cut this short, but I really have to make more arrangements, I'll see you tomorrow?" Misty double-checked.  
  
Dehlia smiled. "Tomorrow, twelve o'clock sharp."  
  
"Great. See you then!" Misty almost squealed. She was growing more excited every time she got more news.   
  
She had hurridly decided upon a beautiful short-sleeved dress for summer with lace flowers on the neckline and some white roses for her bouquet. They were getting married in a little church Misty had fallen in love with when she was smaller, and it suited the wedding perfectly.  
  
"Hey Misty" Lily walked in, a small spring in her step.  
  
Misty groaned. "Let me guess: you want me to put the dress on." It was the same question she had been asked since she got it, and she had tried it on at least five times.  
  
Lily laughed. "Don't be silly. I just wanted to know if you got a maid of honour yet" she explained.  
  
"Yeah, I just called up Ash's mom" Misty cleared up. Lily raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry, she wants to be" Misty confirmed. Lily let out a sigh of a relief, and then gave a squeal.  
  
"In one week I'm going to have a brother-in-law! My little sister's getting married!" she shrieked, and the sisters shared an excited hug, jumping up and down in the embrace. They pulled apart and Lily stared in obvious pride and amazement at Misty.   
  
"Don't give me that look, you'll make me cry" Misty laughed.   
  
"I'm sure you've done enough of that to last you a lifetime" Lily rolled her eyes. "I know I have."  
  
"You've what?" Ash nosily inquired as he walked in.   
  
"None of your business!" Misty grinned.  
  
Ash raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off. He didn't have time to think, because Misty was running up to him.  
  
"I love you!" she yelled as she ran into his arms right in her own lounge and in front of her sister. He grabbed her as she held him.   
  
"I'm not letting you go this time" Ash promised.   
  
Misty grinned. "I'm not gonna let you, either!"   
  
Lily smiled. She had never seen Misty so happy.   
  
"Okay lovebirds, break it up, we've gotta decide on food" Daisy announced as she walked in with Violet.   
  
"Woo-hoo, food!" Ash exclaimed, breaking away from Misty. She rolled her eyes and poked him playfully in his stomach.  
  
"You and your belly..." she moaned, thinking about the increasing groceries that were soon to be bestowed upon her.   
  
"Okay, we've got this whole list here..." Daisy held it out to the happy couple and they scanned it over. There were tons of vegetables, gallons of drinks, and a huge amount of meat, pasta and salads. Not to mention the wedding cake Dehlia had managed to "whip up" in a week.   
  
"I think that'll do..." Misty confirmed. "God, this is gonna cost heaps. We only want a small wedding" she reminded her sisters.  
  
Her triplet sisters grinned at each other. "Misty, the gym's paying for the... oh geeze, what do they call it...the reservation?" Violet asked in confusion.  
  
"The reception" Daisy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh yeah! They gym's paying for the reception" Violet tried again.   
  
Misty gaped at them. "But how can it? The gym can't afford a whole wedding reception..."  
  
Lily shrugged. "We got some of the profits..."   
  
Misty was steaming. They got profits without...?   
  
"After asking the staff" Lily reassured. Misty sighed with relief. "And they all agreed. It'll be sooo worth it!"  
  
Ash stared at Misty to see her reaction. She was on the brink of crying again.   
  
"Okay, no need for that...this is happy days..." Ash tried to reassure her. "Happy happy..."  
  
"I know it's happy" Misty smiled. "Maybe it's too happy" she laughed. "If there's such a thing..." She couldn't believe how the tables had turned. Six years ago it seemed as though there had been nothing to live for. Now Misty couldn't fathom the thought of killing herself.   
  
"One week to the day!" Daisy squealed.  
  
Ash groaned. "Is everything sorted?" he asked warily. He had come to learn that preparing your own wedding at the age of sixteen was no easy or cheap task.  
  
"Pretty much. Your mom's coming up tomorrow with the cake, the dresses are all arranged, catering's taken care of...anything else?" Misty asked.  
  
Violet shook her head. "Nothing. You've just gotta be at the church at 7:30 on Friday night, for the rehearsal. Hope you've got a speech prepared!" She winked at Ash, and he grinned.  
  
"Yes, it's all about my undying love for Misty, not about all the fights we had, and the disagreements, and the bike I still owe her..." Ash shook his head. "Hard to believe we're here after all that!" he exclaimed.  
  
"You know, you still owe me. That bike was my one means of transport" Misty said.  
  
"Yes, but if I hadn't destroyed it..."  
  
"You never would've met!" Lily finished off. Misty looked at her sister in thought. Wow, that's true, she speculated.   
  
"Guess you're right..."  
  
"So forget the bike and remember the wedding!" Ash said quickly.  
  
Misty grinned. "How could I forget the wedding?"  
  
A/N: Now that I think about it, I don't really see a point in that chapter...ah well, it was fun to write! Get ready for chapter 14, coming to this fic tomorrow! 


	15. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: Okay, I admit it! I don't own Pokemon, but *whisper* it's my life-long ambition! ;)  
  
A/N: Oooh, this is the chapter I enjoyed writing most, but it's probably also the shortest. Anyway, we're only two away from the conclusion, I think. I get confused between all my AAML stories! Here we go!  
  
Make-up on, hair up, bouquet in hand, Misty stepped into her limo, the one thought going through her head: Oh my God, I'm getting married.   
  
"Misty, are you okay?" Lily asked in concern.  
  
Misty grinned through her nervousness. "I'm fine...oh, please don't let me trip on my dress!" she asked no one in particular, and started taking deep breaths.   
  
Daisy gave her a quick hug. "You're not gonna trip on your dress. You're gonna walk up, say some vows, kiss Ash and voila! Hello, Misty Ketchum!" She giggled with her sisters and Misty comprehended her new name.   
  
"It sounds so simple, doesn't it?" she asked quietly.  
  
Daisy stared at her in confusion. "Duh, it's simple as" she shrugged.  
  
"How would you know, I don't see you getting married!" Misty yelled. Daisy was obviously taken back, and Misty sighed. "I'm sorry...I'm just wondering...is this a good idea?"  
  
Violet laughed. "Do you love Ash?"  
  
"Of course I do!" Misty defended herself fiercly.  
  
"Well, then this is a good idea. It was, like, fate, Misty. He stole your bike, you ordered him to pay it back, and now you're so together!" Violet shrieked.   
Misty sighed. Violet had this thing about fate that just wouldn't shake off.   
  
"Yes, it was fate" Misty mumbled, not wanting to start a fight on her wedding day.   
  
The limo pulled up by the church quicker than Misty expected and she gratefully grabbed Lily's hand.  
  
"Ow! Misty, I said you could hold my hand, not break it" Lily said.  
  
Misty grinned. "Well, here we go...oh my God, what if Ash doesn't show up?" she asked worridly.  
  
"Misty, I can, like, see him waiting in there now" Daisy said, peering into the church as she stepped out. Misty stepped out after her and clutched her bouquet nervously. Yes, Ash was in there alright.   
  
"Wow, a tuxedo" Misty marvelled.  
  
All of her sisters laughed. "Duh, he has to wear a tux. It's, like, a tradition" Violet said.   
  
Misty heard an organ strike up and she leaned on Mitch's arm, who was giving her away.  
  
"Mitch, I'm gonna die" she whispered frantically.  
  
"Well technically, yes you are, but not now, not today. You look fantastic" he reassured her. And she did. Her hair was on top of her head with string pearls around the bun, and some diamond earrings that were her mother's.   
  
Lily started humming along with the wedding march and Misty wished she could hit her to shut her up.  
  
"Okay, here we go" Misty muttered, and took a brave step forward. Somehow, her feet kept moving forward, past the mounds of people gazing at her dress, and right up to Ash, not before giving Mitch a quick thankyou kiss on the cheek.   
  
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."   
  
Misty took a firmer grip of Ash's hands, and he smiled back. He discreetly mouthed to her, "I'm so nervous."   
Misty grinned and mouthed back, "Me too. I love you."   
The ceremony went on for about ten minutes, and Ash took the usual vows. "Do you, Ash Ketchum, take Misty Cedar, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"   
  
(A/N: I have no idea what Misty's last name is, but I'm sick of seeing people write water related last names to her, so she's a Cedar here!)  
  
Ash looked into Misty's eyes, both of their hearts pounding as they scanned each other's souls. Then the two words Misty had longed to hear from Ash since she was ten relieved her.  
  
"I do." They both smiled at each other after this as the priest continued.  
  
"Now, I believe Misty has her own vows?" He asked Misty and she nodded.   
  
Ash discreetly whispered to her, "Now you make me look bad, making up your own vows!" Misty smiled and began.  
  
"Ash, I knew the minute I met you that you were someone different. And you really were. My love for you has spanned for over six years, and over the stretches of Kanto to the scattered islands that make up the Orange Archapelego. I know that this love for you will grow forever and never die, even after our deaths. We were destined to be together right from the start, and I can safely say it was my destiny to be Misty Ketchum. I love you, Ash, I always have and I always will."   
  
Misty grinned sheepishly at the end as Ash's eyes seemed to be watering over. He had tears in his eyes? Misty marvelled at the force of her speech and squeezed his hands, hoping to reassure him.  
  
"And now by the power invested in me, I have the greatest pleasure of pronouncing these two...husband and wife! Ash, you may kiss your bride."  
  
Ash slowly lifted the delicate veil over Misty's head and gave her the most meaningful and amazing kiss of both their lives.   
  
They pulled apart and the organ struck up again. Ash hugged Misty and whispered in her ear, "You are so amazing. I love you."  
  
Misty was too overwhelmed to reply, so she just nodded, tears running down her flushed cheeks.   
  
They walked out arm in arm to a waiting black stretch limo. Confetti was being thrown from all directions, and almost hysterical sobbing could be heard from where Dehlia Ketchum was standing.   
  
It was the dream wedding Misty had longed for, the scene Ash had never really thought about but loved so much, and the picture Rose had painted when she was lying in that stiff hospital bed.   
  
A/N: WOO-HOO!!! Yay, I'm so happy! But wait, there's more! I know, I know, LONG story, but it's worth it to see those two together! Do you think so? If not, review it and tell me! 


	16. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, please don't sue me.  
  
A/N: Now, I'd just like to warn everyone that this is an ETREMELY short chapter, but there's a speech in here that is really sweet. I wrote it in bed one night when a spark of inspiration hit me and I had to include it somewhere. So here we are, the very short chapter 16!  
  
The wedding "breakfast" was huge. Neither Ash nor Misty could figure out why it was called a breakfast at 7pm, but neither of them disagreed with it. The gym had kept its word, paying for it, and the new couple couldn't help but feel pangs of guilt during the evening. But all the members of the gym had agreed and insisted, along with her sisters, and they were too overpowering over both Misty and Ash.  
  
After everyone had finished eating, the speeches were spoken, along with an extremely funny one from Brock about how his best friends could hardly stand each other at age ten, and in a rehearsed performance, Misty stood up, deciding to make a speech without Ash knowing.  
  
She reached below her feet and picked something up before she started.  
  
"I think you will all recognise this as a bike lock. It chains bicycles to practically anything - trees, lamposts and bike stands. Six years ago a guy who was a Pokemon trainer my age destroyed what was my prized possesion - my bike. I didn't have a bike lock. I was so angry at this guy that I followed him for over a year during his training ordering him to pay me back for my bike. Ultimatly, I fell in love with him. As you've probably guessed, the guy was Ash.  
  
"Then a family tragedy forced me back to Cerulean, which you all probably know was my mother's death."   
  
Misty's eyes watered at the memory. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and continued.  
  
"I came back to run the gym and Ash continued his training. Six years later he came to see me and it all progressed to...well, to this!" Misty laughed with the crowd.   
  
"People say we were seperated for six years, but I knew that really we weren't. We were connected by something like a bike lock. It was like I was the lampost - stuck in one place and unable to move. And Ash was like the bike - he could move and be free, yet he was still chained to me. And now...now Ash is my husband, my prized possesion and...I know that wherever we are, however many miles of land seperates us and whatever we do, we will always be chained together by our love."   
  
Everyone clapped and cheered. The speech brought about a lot of tears, especially from Misty's sisters, and even a sniffle from Ash. How does she come up with all this mushy stuff? he thought in marvelled silence.  
  
As the applause ended, Misty sat back down and Ash kissed her cheek.  
  
"That was...incredible." His voice cracked and he could feel a lump in his throat. "I can't believe that's all about me..."  
  
Misty smiled at her husband. "It's all true and it's all about you. I have never loved anyone but you."  
  
"You have very limited range" Ash muttered mischeviously.   
  
The ten-year old boy Misty had fallen for was still inside him somewhere, and probably always would be. And that was one of the many things Misty loved about him.   
At that moment, the hired DJ got up to the microphone.   
"Hey everyone, I'd just like to shout out a huge congrats to Mr and Mrs Ketchum!" More applause, more smiles exchanged between the couple.  
  
"Now I'd like to invite the two lovebirds to share their first dance as husband and wife!" he announced.   
  
Ash stood up, still holding Misty's hand, and pulled her out to the dancefloor as the first strains of "All my Life" by K-Ci and JoJo started up.   
  
As they swayed in the middle of the dancefloor, all eyes were fixed on the two sweethearts. Misty's hastily chosen dress almost flowed around her, and her aqua eyes never left Ash's.  
  
"This is too perfect" she whispered, leaning on his shoulder. "I feel like it's going to be shattered any minute."   
  
Ash smiled at what he thought were her naive remarks.   
But then the heavy door opened and an unfamilier man made a loud entrance. Only two people in the whole room could recognise him.   
  
Ash looked up and eyed the man with apprehension, and stopped dancing.  
  
"Ash, what's wrong?" Misty asked worridly.   
  
It was then that Dehlia Ketchum fainted, and Ash let go of Misty.  
  
"Ash..." The man barely said the word, but it came out crystal clear. Ash shook his head to stop the dizzying effect in his brain.  
  
"It can't be...Dad?" he whispered.   
  
A/N: What a cliffhanger! Didn't you love that speech Misty said? I hafta say, without boasting, I think it's one of my best works yet! :) Please review, the last chapter is being posted tonight! 


	17. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: Woo-hoo, last time I'm writing this! I don't own Pokemon!  
  
A/N: This is the last chapter of seventeen! Kinda a small drama in here, and one kinda rude reference...if it's too rude for you, tell me with a review!  
  
The man nodded, and Ash just kept on staring. He had been missing for twelve years, gone when Ash was only four.   
  
But the face remained the same, the voice hadn't changed, and Ash and Dehlia, who had now come to with the help of a snifter, were in total and utter shellshock.  
  
The rest of the crowd looked on as well, some of Ash's family vaguely recognising the man, but not quite sure as to who he was.   
  
Misty had never met Ash's father, had never heard about him or what happened to him, and she was standing there, about to burst into tears, at the man who could very easily disrupt the whole wedding from his position.  
  
"You're married, son?" he asked. Ash could only nod a reply, and walked closer to him. Dehlia, however, wasted no time and charged on up to the husband who had left her for twelve years.  
  
"Michael, I told you not to go out there! I knew you weren't ready, you knew too, you just expected me to carry on supporting our son by myself?"   
  
Her nice, motherly image was instantly shattered by the two shouted sentances. Michael? Misty thought. Such a simple name. Dehlia talked as though her husband had been gone for twelve hours, not twelve years.   
  
Michael smiled at her though, obviously still very much in love with her. "Dehlia, you obviously did a fantastic job." He grinned at his wife and son, and wasted no time embracing his now estactic wife.  
  
"I love you, I love you..." Dehlia whispered, now sobbing openly. It had hurt her so much the day he left. He was destined to be a master, he knew it. She didn't though, and every day he was gone was like stabbing another knife into her gut.   
  
Ash still stood there, unable to believe it. "How could you be gone for twelve years, Dad? It doesn't make any sense." Misty thought so too, and was now also curious for answers.  
  
"I've been very far away...in a place you've never heard of. I got lost one day and had no idea where I was going. I stayed with some distant relatives and was so ashamed to come back. But I'm back now, for good, and I will never leave you again" Michael promised.  
  
Well that's fine and dandy, but, y'know, Ash is kinda moving to Cerulean with me...  
  
Misty thought the words, but didn't dare speak them. Ash didn't deserve to have his reunion with his estranged father ruined.  
  
"Hey Ash, I'm just gonna take a quick breather outside, okay?" Misty told him. Ash shook himself out of his shock to hear his wife's words.  
  
"Um, sure Misty...come back soon..." His voice went distant, and Misty choked back a sob. What if he decided to stay in Pallet with his father?   
  
She ran outside, avoiding the prickles in the grass as best she could in the dark. Then she collapsed by a tree and looked into the night sky.   
  
It was pricked with stars, like someone had been sewing a dark blanket over the world and had made a few mistakes.  
  
Misty wanted her father back too. But she knew it was impossible, considering he had been dead for the last ten years. Now that Ash's dad had returned, it opened a whole new world for them. Misty had a father-in-law. Ash had a father. Dehlia had a husband.   
  
Ash had a whole family. Misty didn't.  
  
"Why must you throw another difference between us?" Misty asked the sky. She drew her knees up to her chest, and glanced back at the brightly lit community hall they were having the reception.   
  
People were leaving, she realised, and considered going back and saying thankyou.   
  
She sighed again, got up, and brushed the minimal dirt off her dress. It wouldn't ruin the dress, but it was enough to make Misty worry.  
  
"John, Paula...thankyou for coming" Misty said as she approached an aunty and uncle from her mother's side of the family.  
  
"Oh it was no trouble, dear! Your mother would've been so proud of you" Paula exclaimed. Misty smiled, thanked them again, and continued like this for another forty minutes as people left. She got most of the same replies.  
  
"You looked lovely, hun!"  
  
"Wish your parents could've been here..." (like they were on vacation or something.)  
  
"Keep that gym going, girl!" (someone who obviously didn't know about "the incident")   
  
The last person left and Misty walked back into the hall to find Ash staring out the window. His parents had taken a back exit to discuss their future, and Ash was obviously thinking about his.  
  
"Hi Ash" Misty approached him and sat beside him.  
  
Ash looked up and smiled. "You are the greatest thing that ever happened to me" he said, taking Misty aback. That was pretty random for Ash, especially at this time.  
  
"Ash...do you, um...do you want to go back to Pallet? I can shut the gym down or sell it, I just want you to be happy" Misty explained, for once not caring what her sisters or mother thought.   
  
He stared at her with wide eyes. "Misty..."  
  
"I know this isn't easy for you, and I've suddenly put all this pressure on you, it isn't fair...but it's your choice. You can go back. I'll come if you want me to" Misty said, holding back sobs.  
  
Ash grinned at her. "The only place I want you to come with me is in bed."  
  
"ASH!" Misty yelled, and then laughed. "Trust you..."  
  
"I'm sorry, Misty...Dad shouldn't have just burst in like that. He's angry that I married you and won't listen about your situation. He wants me to go back to Pallet so he can teach me about Pokemon" Ash explained in a much more serious voice.  
  
Misty gasped. Micheal seemed like a good man, he wouldn't want them to divorce or anything...  
  
"Don't worry, Mist...I'm not gonna let him take me. I'm here with you, running the gym, and that's all I want. I don't want to go back, and he can't teach me anything about Pokemon. He doesn't know I came in the top three in the Indigo League, or that I've had six years experience in training. He can't make me go back, no one can, so don't worry, okay?" Ash said.  
  
Misty's eyes started watering. "Ash, you're too good to me."  
  
Ash smiled. "So, Mrs. Ketchum," Misty giggled at the name. "What do you say we hit the road? The bags are in the car, which is parked outside, the tickets are ready, and the plane is leaving in an hour."  
  
Misty drew in a breath. "You mean...a...."  
  
"Yup, a honeymoon. In beautiful Goldenrod City. You'll love it." Ash kissed her cheek and helped her up. Then he whispered, "Dad doesn't know we're going," and grinned.  
  
"You little rascal" Misty rolled her eyes as they walked, arm in arm, towards the car. They got to the door, and Misty stopped.   
  
"What's wrong?" Ash asked worridly.  
  
"Ahem" Misty said, indicating the threshold. Ash laughed, picked her up, and carried her over it, Misty squealing all the way.  
  
"I love you, Misty. Nothing will ever change that" he said.  
  
Misty held on to him and delicatly kissed him. "I love you too. Thankyou for everything." Then Ash put her in the car, jumped into the driver's side, and started the ignition with his arm around Misty's shoulders. They both sat quietly, savouring each others presence.   
  
Then they drove off into the direction of the airport, cans clattering behind their car with a "Just Married" sign glowing in the dark.   
  
A/N: That's all folks! That's the conclusion in a very long, very sweet and fun story that I REALLY enjoyed writing! Please ask me any quessies you have on this story, because I'm going to be posting a chapter about this story for questions relating to the storyline. I've already had a couple of questions, but if you are confused about anything, just put it in your reviews or email me, kasumi_satoshi@hotmail.com Thankyou for reading one of my favourite stories! 


	18. FAQs and explanations!

Okay, this isn't a chapter for "Misty's Dilemma" it is simply an FAQ for my dedicated readers! :) Thanks so much guys! :)  
  
The Orange League thing - okay, let me explain: when I started writing this story, here in New Zealand they had stopped playing the Orange Islands series, and I had no idea how the Orange League worked, so I just figured it would be similar to the Indigo one.  
  
The prizes in the Orange League - again, same thing as above, had no idea. But that was kinda my imagination going with me, it was the only way I could think of Ash giving Misty a car.   
  
Tracey - urgh. Yucky section. No, I did not include Tracey in this story because I felt he didn't really fit in. I don't like Tracey anyway. As for Brock...well, the story revolved more around Ash and Misty, and I felt that Brock would kinda be getting in the way. I still love him though! :)  
  
The gyms closure: someone asked about this, and it's a very good question - how could the 7th-9th gyms get closed when you need 8 badges to compete in the league? Well, I said the gym could be shut OR SOLD, most likely sold for that reason. But if it was shut, it would, obviously, make room for new gyms.   
  
Didn't Ash win the Orange League? - yeah, he did, but again that wasn't screened here for a while. I started this story a year ago. In this story, he just didn't. My Orange League had a whole different system with it.  
  
What happened to their journey? - I know they were still on their journey, and still are, even though they are now obviously older than ten. But the thing is, they were still ten when I started. The journey had to stop in my story or else it wouldn't have worked out the way it did.  
  
Misty suicidal - say it isn't so! I know, she was suicidal and that's not a nice thing, I have been through it myself (thankyou JBJFEC for letting me see the light!). But Misty was under a lot of pressure - her mother had died, she had lost her true love for what seemed forever, and she now had the huge responsiblity of running the gym until she had kids. I and many other suicidals have been under a lot less pressure than that and have had the urge to slash our wrists too. I rated this story PG for a reason, and that was one of them. Im sorry if it offended anyone, but that's reality.  
  
How could Ash ruin the ranking? - THE BIG ONE. This is the BIGGEST and most frequent question I have been asked, so here's my explanation: have you ever seen the episode of The Simpsons, when the Superintennent (spelling) is inspecting the school, and everything is going fine until Bart starts driving a tractor and accidently runs him over? My story was practically no different. Gyms have to be 100% perfect. If Ash had done that while Misty was in the middle of an important match, it would ultimatly affect the match, and that's why the inspector ranked it so low. He was looking for things that would happen every day, and he obviously thought that if hooligans like that lived in Cerulean, then the town didn't deserve a gym.  
  
Once again, thankyou sooo much for reading my story, I loved writing it and look out for more AAMLs from me, cos I love writing them! Anymore questions, forward them to me! :)  
  



End file.
